Fact Checker: Trump says he did not try to fire Mueller. Here’s what Mueller’s report says.
By Glenn Kessler Glenn Kessler The Fact Checker Email Bio Follow April 26 at 3:00 AM “As has been incorrectly reported by the Fake News Media, I never told then White House Counsel Don McGahn to fire Robert Mueller, even though I had the legal right to do so. If I wanted to fire Mueller, I didn’t need McGahn to do it, I could have done it myself.”President Trump is disputing a key finding of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s report — that he ordered the firing of Robert Mueller.
The Facts Mueller was appointed on May 17, 2017, in the wake of Trump’s firing of FBI Director James B. Comey. On June 14, The Washington Post reported that Trump was being investigated for obstruction of justice, and Trump responded with a series of tweets attacking the investigation. Three days later, on June 17, the president called White House counsel Donald McGahn, who was at home, from Camp David.
“Bannon told the President that the golf course dispute did not rise to the level of a conflict and claiming one was ‘ridiculous and petty,’ ” the report said. “On the first call, McGahn recalled that the President said something like, ‘You gotta do this. You gotta call Rod,’ ” the report said, citing testimony under oath. “McGahn said he told the President that he would see what he could do. McGahn was perturbed by the call and did not intend to act on the request.”
McGahn said he felt worn down by Trump and did not know what to do, so he decided to resign. His chief of staff, Annie Donaldson, recalled in an in FBI interview on or before April 2, 2018, that “McGahn told her the President had called and demanded he contact the Department of Justice and that the President wanted him to do something that McGahn did not want to do.” McGahn did not tell her the reason but she figured it was because of the Russia investigation.
According to the report, Trump changed tack. Two days after the call, Trump on June 19 directed former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski to deliver a message to Attorney General Jeff Sessions to limit the investigation just to election interference by Russia, not obstruction of justice. Lewandowski was only a private citizen and tried to pass the request off to a White House aide, Rick Dearborn. He also balked.
“The President began the Oval Office meeting by telling McGahn that the New York Times story did not ‘look good’ and McGahn needed to correct it,” the report said. McGahn recalled the President said, ‘I never said to fire Mueller. I never said “fire.” This story doesn’t look good. You need to correct this. You’re the White House counsel.’ ”
The report adds: “The President’s subsequent denials that he had told McGahn to have the special counsel removed were carefully worded. When first asked about the New York Times story, the President said, ‘Fake news, folks. Fake news. A typical New York Times fake story.’ And when the President spoke with McGahn in the Oval Office, he focused on whether he had used the word ‘fire,’ saying, ‘I never said to fire Mueller.
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