Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein says that a history of political giving is not a disqualifier for those who work for the Department of Justice's special counsel investigating Russian interference in USA elections.
Rosenstein, who has been on the job for six weeks, said only he could fire Mueller, and only if he found good cause to do so.
He told senators during a committee hearing that there would have to be "good cause" for Mueller to be removed from his role.
Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence committee, said any move to oust Mueller would "be the last straw" for many in Congress and would have "echoes of Watergate", when President Richard Nixon dismissed special prosecutor Archibald Cox over Cox's subpoenas for White House tapes.
Rosenstein said that if the president ordered him to fire the special counsel handling the Russian Federation investigation, he would only comply if the request was "lawful and appropriate".
Rosenstein, who has the sole ability to fire Mueller given that Attorney General Jeff Sessions has recused himself from matters relating to the investigation, told the panel he had seen no evidence of good cause for letting Mueller go and that he would not follow any theoretical order to fire him absent such evidence.
Ruddy told ABC News that he stands by his comments that the president is considering asking Rosenstein to terminate Mueller.
Still, Chris Ruddy, the CEO of Newsmax and a Trump friend, suggested the president was already thinking about "terminating" Mueller from his position as special counsel.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters later that Trump thought Sessions "did a very good job" and was especially "strong" on denying any collusion between Trump's campaign and Russian Federation. Rosenstein was asked about it and answered this way, "You have my assurance that Director Muller will have the full degree of independence that he needs to conduct the investigation".
UVA issues statement student held by NKorea
And an upcoming cross-border visit by North Korean taekwondo athletes is expected to further fuel optimism. "We're working on it". The statement from Leigh contradicts the more serious claim North Korea made in May. "He is on a medivac flight on his way home".
But after the testimony of former FBI Director James Comey last week, Gingrich said he'd changed his mind. That would have to be done by the deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein, given that Attorney General Jeff Sessions has recused himself from DOJ's Russian Federation investigation.
Rosenstein may be asked to address the issue when he speaks at a Senate subcommittee hearing Tuesday morning. Although Ruddy, who said he spoke to the president by phone over the weekend, said he personally thought it would be a mistake to take that step, other Trump cheerleaders, including former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., have begun assailing Mueller, a former Federal Bureau of Investigation director with a sterling reputation.
House Speaker Paul Ryan told reporters Tuesday any talk about Trump wanting to rid himself of the special investigator amounts to "rumor".
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich led one line of attack with a tweet that said "Republicans are delusional if they think the special counsel is going to be fair".
Two senators say they are disappointed that Attorney General Jeff Sessions has sent his deputy to testify before a committee hearing on the Justice Department's budget. Sessions made that choice because of his own conversations with Russian officials during the Trump transition - a potential part of the probe.
"I do not", Sessions said when asked whether he knows whether the president records his conversations.
In addition, Comey has said Sessions did not respond when he complained that he did not want to be left alone with Trump again.
Said Ryan: "I know Bob Mueller".
"I can not and will not violate my duty to protect the confidential communications I have with the president", he said. Rosenstein wrote a memo to Sessions on Comey, which was then used by the administration to justify firing the director for his handling of the Clinton case.
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