WASHINGTON _ President Trump continues to lash out at special counsel Robert S. Mueller III in the wake of Monday's FBI raids targeting his longtime personal lawyer, Michael Cohen.
In a tweet on Wednesday morning, he called the Russia investigation "Fake & Corrupt" and referred to Mueller as the "most conflicted of all," except for Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who oversees the special counsel's work because Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself.
Trump did not explain why he believes Mueller is conflicted, a charge that could lay the groundwork for attempting to fire him as special counsel. But previously the president has complained that Mueller should be precluded from leading the investigation because, among other reasons, Trump interviewed him as a potential FBI director after firing James B. Comey last year.
Mueller, a Republican who previously ran the FBI under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, was named as special counsel by Rosenstein soon after the interview.
Trump's latest attacks seem to have given impetus to stalled efforts in Congress to insulate the special counsel from being fired. A bipartisan group of senators announced a revised proposal to codify regulations that only Justice Department leaders _ not the president _ could fire a special counsel, who could then appeal the decision in court.
