WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump thinks it is “ridiculous” that special counsel Robert Mueller has hired Hillary Clinton donors, but the White House won’t clarify if the president thinks Mueller is leading a nonpartisan investigation.
The president told “Fox & Friends” in an interview that aired Friday that Mueller is “very, very good friends with Comey, which is very bothersome.” On the other hand, he attacked Mueller for hiring Clinton donors and said, “I mean the whole thing is ridiculous, if you want to know the truth, from that standpoint.”
He did praise Mueller as “honorable,” and added that “hopefully he’ll come up with an honorable solution.” The Daily Caller asked White House press secretary Sean Spicer at Friday’s briefing if Trump believes Mueller is partisan, and Spicer replied, “I think his comments this morning speak for themselves as to his views on Robert Mueller.”
TheDC asked Spicer after the briefing in an email if President Trump believes Mueller is running a nonpartisan investigation, but he did not reply by the time of publication.
Prior to Trump’s Friday comments, his supporters had, for weeks, disparaged the man put in charge of investigating Russian election interference and possible collusion between the Kremlin and the Trump campaign.
White House Counselor Kellyanne Conway recently highlighted a CNN article that revealed that three of the five known Mueller hires for his legal team at the time had donated $56,000 to Democratic candidates.
The Daily Caller reported this week that a fourth hire by Mueller, Elizabeth Prelogar, is also a Democratic Party donor and gave $250 to the Clinton campaign. (RELATED: Robert Mueller Hires Another Clinton Donor For Russia Probe)
And while conservative commentator Ann Coulter initially said that Mueller’s hiring meant Democrats should be afraid, she is now tweeting that he should be fired.
The possibility of dismissing Mueller was floated by Trump confidant Chris Ruddy last week. While the White House has maintained that Trump “has no intention” of firing Mueller, it has noted he retains authority to do so.
The Washington Post recently reported that Mueller is now investigating whether President Trump obstructed justice in conversations with top officials and whether the president or any of his associates have committed financial crimes. It is the special counsel’s broad scope of investigative power that has Trump allies fearful.
“Mueller is setting up a dragnet of obstruction, financial questions and every aspect of Trump’s life and his associates lives. Very dangerous,” House Speaker Newt Gingrich tweeted last week.