White House: Trump Has ‘No Intentions’ Of Firing Mueller Despite ‘Hoax’ Probe

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders speaks during the daily press briefing in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, in Washington, DC., on December 7, 2017. (Photo by Oliver Contreras/SIPA ... White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders speaks during the daily press briefing in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, in Washington, DC., on December 7, 2017. (Photo by Oliver Contreras/SIPA USA)(Sipa via AP Images) MORE LESS
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White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders reiterated Thursday that President Donald Trump had no intention of firing special counsel Robert Mueller, whose investigation she called a “hoax.”

In an interview on Fox News, host Bill Hemmer asked about a remark from Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), the ranking member on the Senate Intelligence Committee, who said Wednesday from the Senate floor that Trump removing Mueller, shutting down his investigation or pardoning “key witnesses”  would be “a gross abuse of power and a flagrant violation of executive branch responsibilities and authorities.”

“I want to be very clear and make sure that I address Sen. Warner’s concern for the one thousandth time,” Sanders began.

“We have no intentions of firing Bob Mueller. We are continuing to work closely and cooperate with him. We look forward to seeing this hoax wrap up very soon.”

“We think that it is just further evidence that the Democrats have no plan,” she continued. “They have no agenda. They have nothing to talk about other than attacking this President.”

Hemmer also asked about Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), who joined some Republicans Thursday in positing — based on anti-Trump text messages that one of Mueller’s former investigators sent an FBI lawyer, though some texts were critical of Democrats, too — that officials in the intelligence community and the Obama administration could have conspired in attempt to prevent Trump from winning the presidency.

“We’ve had this investigation about Russian collusion, maybe we need an investigation about high-ranking Obama officials colluding to try to prevent Trump from being president,” Paul said. “That’s more serious than even Watergate.”

“I think it’s something that certainly should be looked at,” Sanders said, responding to Hemmer characterizing Paul’s position. She added later: “The senator, if he feels that there is something to be looked at, we absolutely should be looking at that.”

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