Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat, pressed Rosenstein in a Senate appropriations subcommittee hearing after President Donald Trump's friend, Chris Ruddy, said Monday night that President Trump is considering firing Mueller.
President Trump is so out of touch with reality that he thinks he can threaten special counsel Robert Mueller into clearing him on the Russian Federation scandal. "I know Bob Mueller, and I have confidence in Bob Mueller", Ryan said.
Also unclear was whether the president's comment confirming he was under investigation was based on direct knowledge or media reports that Mueller is examining whether the president obstructed justice by firing Comey last month.
Mr Trump claimed he had been personally vindicated by Mr Comey's testimony last week confirming that he was not under investigation himself for links to Russian Federation.
So as deputy attorney general, Rosenstein would have the power to remove Mueller from his position - as long as he had a good reason to do that and put it in writing. "I do believe it would be catastrophic, and I do believe it would destroy any shred of trust in the president's judgment that remains over here", Senator Dianne Feinstein said.
Chief executive of the conservative Newsmax media, Christopher Ruddy, has told PBS Television that Mr Trump is weighing the possibility of sacking Mr Mueller, a former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation who was appointed as special counsel on May 17.
"Mr. Ruddy never spoke to the president regarding this issue", White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said in a statement.
The topic of both hearings is the Justice Department's budget.
Amir fit and plays in Champions Trophy final
How competitive the final will be seems sure to depend on what extra Pakistan can bring, and whether it will still be enough. The buzz for the final has been huge in England , too, where there is a large population from both the nations.
'He apparently couldn't find a single pro-Trump attorney to hire and I just think that that's a rigged game.
"I think he should let Bob Mueller do his job, do his job independently, and do his job quickly, because I think that that's what he would want to have happen", Ryan told conservative commentator Guy Benson.
Ruddy said, however, that doing so would "be a very significant mistake".
Mueller was already granted a waiver by the Justice Department to lead the probe despite a possible conflict of interest stemming from his law firm's representation of some of the people caught up in the investigation, including former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law and senior adviser.
Ruddy said in an interview Monday with Judy Woodruff of PBS, "I think he's weighing that option".
If Mueller knew he was going to be named special counsel, it is unlikely he divulged that information to Trump.
The transition official said the organization has also separately asked the General Services Administration to preserve records from the Trump transition that were transferred to its facilities after the inauguration.
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