Trump believes Mueller investigation has 'gone too far,' White House says

Press secretary says Trump has power to fire special counsel

(Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

President Donald Trump thinks special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation has gone too far, the White House has said.

The president "has been clear that he thinks that this has gone too far," White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters, speaking the day after federal agents raided the offices of Mr Trump's personal attorney.

Ms Sanders refused to say whether Mr Trump would fire the special counsel investigating his campaign’s possible ties to Russia, saying only that he had the power to do so if he wished.

“We’ve been advised that the president certainly has the power to make that decision,” she said, responding to pushback from reporters who said only Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had that authority.

The comments came after Mr Trump criticised Mr Mueller over an FBI raid of lawyer Michael Cohen’s hotel room and offices. Agents confiscated emails, business records, and other documents belonging to Mr Cohen, who is the president’s longtime personal attorney, according to the New York Times.

Mr Cohen’s attorney accused Mr Mueller of pointing the prosecutors towards his client.

Mr Trump condemned the raid on Monday, calling it an “attack on our country”. Asked if he would fire the special counsel, he replied: "I think it's a disgrace what's going on. We’ll see what happens, but I think it’s really a sad situation.”

The president also lashed out on Twitter, repeating his claim that the special counsel’s investigation was a “witch hunt” and adding that “attorney-client privilege is dead!”

He also privately mulled firing Mr Rosenstein, who personally signed off on the decision to raid Mr Cohen’s offices, according to the Times.

Ms Huckabee Sanders declined to comment further on Mr Trump’s faith in Mr Rosenstein, saying the president had “certainly voiced his frustrations” with the deputy attorney general.

While Mr Trump’s comments echoed what he has said about the Russia investigation, the raid was not directly related to Mr Mueller’s probe. Instead, the action was carried out by federal prosecutors after a referral from the special counsel, according to Mr Cohen’s lawyer.

It was not immediately clear what crimes the prosecutors sought to investigate.

Ms Huckabee Sanders acknowledged that the two investigations were separate, but said that “publicly, they have been conflated quite a bit”.

Several of Mr Trump’s fellow Republicans have urged him not to fire the special counsel – an action some experts have said could amount to obstruction of justice. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley said on Tuesday that firing Mr Mueller would be “suicide” for the president.

“I think the less the president says about this whole thing, the better off he will be,” the Republican said. “I think Mueller is a person of stature and respected and I respect him. Just let the thing go forward."