Sen. Chris Coons said Monday that his bipartisan bill would take current Justice Department rules on the president’s ability over the special counsel and put them into law.
“Right now, the reasons why the president, through the attorney general, can’t just randomly fire the special counsel if he has a bad day, or gets in bad mood, is embedded in the regulations at Department of Justice,” the Delaware Democrat said on CNN. “What we’re doing is taking those standards and putting them into law.”
Mr. Coons is sponsoring the bill with Sen. Thom Tillis, North Carolina Republican, to protect special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Reports came out last week that Mr. Mueller convened a grand jury in Washington to issue subpoenas. Many have speculated that Mr. Trump may be looking to fire Mr. Mueller, a move Mr. Coons says is in no one’s best interest.
“If [Mr. Trump is] concerned about the situation, the only person he has to blame is himself,” Mr. Coons said. “His repeated threats on Twitter against Attorney General Sessions, his repeated expressions that the Russia investigation is a fabrication, has clearly run into opposition from both Republicans and Democrats in the Senate. It’s in everyone’s best interest, both the president and the country’s, that Bob Mueller be allowed to continue the investigation to it’s logical conclusion.”
Mr. Coons and Mr. Tillis’ bill would also stipulate that only an attorney general confirmed by the Senate could fire Mr. Mueller. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has recused himself from the Russia case, a mover for which the president has criticized him.
• Sally Persons can be reached at spersons@washingtontimes.com.
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