President Donald Trump had a tried and true response when the New York Times reported that he had ordered the firing of special counsel Robert Mueller last summer, only to back down when White House counsel Don McGahn threatened to resign over the order: “Fake news!’
But former White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus was more delicate Sunday, declining to say the story was incorrect outright and instead — speaking only for himself, he specified — saying among other things that “I never felt that the President was going to fire the special counsel.”
“It’s possible the President uttered the words ‘I want Mueller fired. I want Mueller gone,” “Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd responded.
“I never heard that,” Priebus, who was working as chief of staff at the time of Trump’s reported order, said.
“The sentiment was expressed?” Todd asked.
“I think it was very clear by the President’s own words that he was concerned about the conflicts of interest that he felt that the special counsel had, and he made that very clear,” Priebus said. “Perhaps someone interpreted that to mean something else. But I know the difference between ‘Fire that person, why isn’t that person gone?’ to what I read in that New York Times piece. When I read that, I’m just telling you, I didn’t feel that when I was there.”
“Did Don McGahn express that concern?” Todd asked.
“Not in particular,” Priebus said.
“Is this story wrong?” Todd asked.
“I didn’t think it was right, put it that way,” Priebus said. “I didn’t believe it was accurate.”
“But you’re not disputing it in total, why?” Todd asked.
“I’m disputing it from my point of view,” Priebus said. “Because I never heard that.”
“You never heard it but it’s possible he did express this?” Todd asked.
“I think he expressed his concerns with the conflicts,” Priebus said. “But I never heard the idea or the concept that this person needed to be fired. I never felt that it was relayed to me that way, either. And I would know the difference between a level ten situation, as reported in that story, and what was reality. And it just– To me, it wasn’t reality.”
