WASHINGTON — President Trump ordered the firing last June of Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel overseeing the Russia investigation, according to four people told of the matter, but ultimately backed down after the White House counsel threatened to resign rather than carry out the directive.
The West Wing confrontation marks the first time Mr. Trump is known to have tried to fire the special counsel. Mr. Mueller learned about the episode in recent months as his investigators interviewed current and former senior White House officials in his inquiry into whether the president obstructed justice.
Amid the first wave of news media reports that Mr. Mueller was examining a possible obstruction case, the president began to argue that Mr. Mueller had three conflicts of interest that disqualified him from overseeing the investigation, two of the people said.
First, he claimed that a dispute years ago over fees at Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Va., had prompted Mr. Mueller, the F.B.I. director at the time, to resign his membership. The president also said Mr. Mueller could not be impartial because he had most recently worked for the law firm that previously represented the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Finally, the president said, Mr. Mueller had been interviewed to return as the F.B.I. director the day before he was appointed special counsel in May.
After receiving the president’s order to fire Mr. Mueller, the White House counsel, Donald F. McGahn II, refused to ask the Justice Department to dismiss the special counsel, saying he would quit instead, the people said. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they did not want to be identified discussing a continuing investigation.
Mr. McGahn disagreed with the president’s case and told senior White House officials that firing Mr. Mueller would have a catastrophic effect on Mr. Trump’s presidency. Mr. McGahn also told White House officials that Mr. Trump would not follow through on the dismissal on his own. The president then backed off.
There have been a lot of recent stories that cast Don McGahn as the hero… pic.twitter.com/TauH1UJ8u3
— Maddow Blog (@MaddowBlog) January 26, 2018
Ty Cobb, who manages the White House’s relationship with Mr. Mueller’s office, said in a statement, “We decline to comment out of respect for the Office of the Special Counsel and its process.”
Mr. McGahn, a longtime Republican campaign finance lawyer in Washington who served on the Federal Election Commission, was the top lawyer on Mr. Trump’s campaign. He has been involved in nearly every key decision Mr. Trump has made — like the firing of the former F.B.I. director — that is being scrutinized by Mr. Mueller.
Mr. McGahn was also concerned that firing the special counsel would incite more questions about whether the White House was trying to obstruct the Russia investigation.
More here…..
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POW!💥💥💥💥💥
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UH HUH
UH HUH
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SHORT:
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Here’s what President Trump has done to impede and control the Russia investigation
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Trump evokes Nixon again with Mueller firing
Michael Beschloss, NBC News presidential historian, talks with Rachel Maddow about parallels between Donald Trump’s desire to fire Robert Mueller and Richard Nixon’s criticism of his investigation.
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McGahn oddly central in recent Trump stories
Bob Bauer, White House counsel to President Barack Obama, talks with Rachel Maddow about what can be inferred about the relationship between Donald Trump and White House counsel Don McGahn from reports including the New York Times story about Trump’s order to fire Robert Mueller in June.
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Blumenthal: There is a credible obstruction case against Trump
Senator Richard Blumenthal talks with Rachel Maddow about the revelation that Donald Trump ordered the firing of Robert Mueller over the summer, and the need to protect the special counsel with legislation.
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Trump firing of Mueller stopped by McGahn: NYT
Michael Schmidt, Washington correspondent for The New York Times, talks with Rachel Maddow about breaking new reporting that Donald Trump ordered the firing of Robert Mueller based on dubious conflict accusations and only held back when Don McGahn threatened to quit over the matter.
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Jeff Sessions Appears to Be Meddling in the Russia and Clinton Probes He Vowed to Avoid
Democrats say the attorney general has violated his recusal.
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/01/jeff-sessions-appears-to-be-meddling-in-the-russia-and-clinton-probes-he-vowed-to-avoid/
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What is obstruction of justice?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/c/embed/17ad7a00-4bc3-11e7-987c-42ab5745db2e
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Trump is not going to sit down voluntarily with Mueller. He can not possibly do that without lying, not because it’s a trap, but because he lies all the time. And, despite his bravado, Trump is a coward. He is just trying to make people think he wants to do it for PR purposes. 1/
— Elizabeth de la Vega (@Delavegalaw) January 26, 2018
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ON POINT
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I agree with those that this story about Dolt45 wanting to fire Bobby Three Sticks has come out because HE WANTS TO DO IT AGAIN.
The NYT says that they have four sources for that story.
Folks are singing. And, they have no intentions of going to jail for Dolt45.
It amuses me that Bobby Three Sticks knew all of this.
Who walked into their meetings with him, unaware of how much he knew?
LOL
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Yepper! Pay attention to the right wingers who are screaming the loudest, also too. They’re bought & paid for stooges.
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LYING SARAH SANDERS….
Oct 30th 2017: @PressSec: Says Trump Has No Intention to Fire #Mueller
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Gosh she’s ugly!
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Look at this buffoonery, folks!
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As Vitamin says…..Po po’s comin’. White people’s goin’ to jail!
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HA HA HA HA
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Conspiracy to Commit Obstruction of Justice…….
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Trump is a straight thug. He has no regard for the rule of law.
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THIS BEY-OTCH needs to be taken to the woodshed.
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He absolutely don’t give a fk about the law. He’s criminally minded & has been all of his life. It’s how he obtained wealth.
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OMG!! SO SPOT ON!!!
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April Ryan broke this story back in June 2017.
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Go April, but you know all the black folks so well in the CBC, because they’re BLACK, right? you can arrange for a meeting with #45 POS.
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Yep…She broke the story, and it was poo-pooed.
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