Following news that the FBI raided the office, home and hotel room of President Donald Trump’s personal attorney Michael Cohen on Monday, Trump had an outburst in front of reporters, calling the raid an “attack” on America, while musing that “many people” had told him that he “should fire” special counsel Robert Mueller.
But Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) had a simple message for Trump on Tuesday: “Don’t even think about it.”
Speaking from the Senate floor, Schumer called Mueller’s probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election “critical to the health of our democracy” and demanded the investigation “must be allowed to continue.”
“Special counsel Mueller has uncovered a deep and detailed pattern of Russian interference in our elections,” Schumer said. “It has led to several indictments and guilty pleas. It has also led the Trump administration itself to level sanctions against Russian individuals for meddling in our elections. That is proof positive that Mueller’s investigation is not a so-called witch hunt.”
Schumer also criticized Trump for calling the FBI raid an “attack on our country” and suggesting the only person “engaging in an attack on American values” is “unfortunately President Trump.”
“With due respect, President Trump, America has been around for over two and a half centuries,” he said. “An investigation of your personal attorney is not an attack on our country. The Japanese bombing Pearl Harbor was an attack on our country. 9-11 was an attack on our country. When Russia interfered with our elections, that was an attack on our country. Investigating your personal lawyer with a high standard to be met is certainly not an attack on our country.”
Trump’s frustration with the raid — which came as a directive from Mueller — still isn’t sitting well with the President, following his Monday meltdown. On Tuesday morning he tweeted claiming “attorney-client privilege is dead!” and apparently calling Mueller’s investigation “A TOTAL WITCH HUNT!!!”
