Sens. Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Chris Coons (D-DE) plan to introduce legislation meant to shield Department of Justice special counsels from political influence — with an eye toward protecting Robert Mueller, the special counsel at the head of the department’s Russian election meddling investigation and a target of the Trump administration.
The Associated Press reported Wednesday that Tillis and Coons’ legislation would allow any Justice Department special counsel to challenge his or her firing in court, and to have it reviewed by a three-judge panel. The bill would apply retroactively to May 17, 2017, AP reported — the day Mueller was assigned as a special counsel by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
Mueller has the support of a broad, bipartisan swath of Congress, who largely saw his appointment as an opportunity to turn the legislature’s attention back to policy priorities.
President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has reportedly raged at Mueller’s investigation. Political allies like former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, and Trump himself, have attacked Mueller for his working friendship with ousted FBI Director James Comey, and for the investigators working under him who have donated to the campaigns of Hillary Clinton and other Democrats.
In an interview with the New York Times in July, Trump agreed that Mueller would be crossing a line if he, in words of a Times reporter, “was looking at your finances and your family finances, unrelated to Russia.”
Tillis and Coons both characterized the legislation as an important safeguard against executive overreach.
“It is critical that special counsels have the independence and resources they need to lead investigations,” Tillis told AP. “A back-end judicial review process to prevent unmerited removals of special counsels not only helps to ensure their investigatory independence, but also reaffirms our nation’s system of check and balances.”
Coons added: “Ensuring that the special counsel cannot be removed improperly is critical to the integrity of his investigation.”
The bill is similar to one championed by Sens. Lindsay Graham (R-SC) and Cory Booker (D-NJ) that would require judicial approval before a special counsel is fired.
This post has been updated.
I can’t wait for the signing ceremony on this one.
And the signing statement! Imagine the possibilities …
Winning! Broke the legislative logjam! Now all kinds of significant (i.e., non-post-office renaming) legislation is flowing.
Thanks Mitch.
The Freedom Caucus in the House will say this unfairly ties the hands of a President that wants to shut down, er…bring to a fair and just closing, an investigation by a Special Counsel.
Don’t know if this one will fly like the sanctions bill.
Definitely feels like the screws are being turned on Trump.
McMaster’s firing Trump’s people willynilly at the NSC, Kelly is telling Sessions his job is safe, the Mooch is gone, the Coast Guard and DEA are openly defying Trump on the transsexual ban, Congress puts the cuff on him with the Russia sanctions…and all this in the past week!
I’ve never seen this level of disrespect towards the Chief Executive. And not from political enemies, but his own people!