The White House on Tuesday confirmed its stance that President Donald Trump has the authority to fire special counsel Robert Mueller.
When asked outright if Trump “believe(s) he has the power to fire” Mueller, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said “certainly.”
“Certainly he believes he has the power to do so,” she said, after deflecting questions about whether the Mueller-directed raid of Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen’s house, hotel and office was actually an “attack on this country,” as Trump said it was.
“I think the President has been clear that he thinks that this has gone too far,” she said.
In the past, Trump has attempted to tip-toe around his apparent desire to fire the special counsel, but has in recent been a bit more explicit. In March, Trump slammed former FBI Director James Comey in a tweet and specifically called out Mueller for the first time, saying his probe should “never have been started.”
After news of the Cohen raid broke on Monday, Trump said that people have told him he should fire Mueller, but stopped short of confirming his reported interest in doing so.
“We’ll see what happens,” he said Monday.
