Trump 'Considering' Firing Special Counsel In Russia Investigation, Friend Says

President Donald Trump is considering firing former FBI Director Robert Mueller, appointed by the Department of Justice to lead the investigation into ties between Trumps campaign and Russian officials, a friend said Monday.

I think hes considering perhaps terminating the special counsel. I think hes weighing that option, Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy told PBS NewsHours Judy Woodruff on Monday.

Chris Ruddy to @JudyWoodruff: President Trump is considering firing special counsel Robert Mueller, who he considered for another position. pic.twitter.com/X4IIHlh8at

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Chris Ruddy to @JudyWoodruff : President Trump is considering firing special counsel Robert Mueller, who he considered for another position. pic.twitter.com/X4IIHlh8at
PBS NewsHour (@NewsHour) June 12, 2017

Ruddy, a personal friend of the president, was spotted at the White House earlier in the day.

According to Neal Katyal, the former acting U.S. solicitor general, Trump could direct Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who appointed Mueller, to fire the former FBI director. (Rosensteins boss, Attorney General Jeff Sessions , has recused himself from the Russia investigation.)

The president also could order the regulations pertaining to the office of special counsel repealed, according to an article by Katyal published in The Washington Post last month:

The regulations provide that Mueller can be disciplined or removed from office only by the personal action of the Attorney General (again, Rosenstein here, because Sessions is recused) and only for good cause. The president, therefore, would have to direct Rosenstein to fire Mueller or, somewhat more extravagantly, Trump could order the special-counsel regulations repealed and then fire Mueller himself.

One of Trumps attorneys, during an interview on Sunday, wouldnt rule out the possibility the president would fire the special counsel.

Look, the president of the United States, as we all know, is a unitary executive, Jay Sekulow said on ABCs This Week. But the president is going to seek the advice of his counsel and inside the government as well as outside. And Im not going to speculate on what he will, or will not, do.

Sekulow said that he cant imagine such a situation, but added that it is an issue that the president with his advisers would discuss if there was a basis.

Ruddy said in his PBS interview that firing Mueller would be a very significant mistake, even though he didnt believe the appointment of the special counsel was proper. Ruddy claimed that Mueller was under consideration to lead the FBI, a position vacated after Trump fired James Comey, and that he spoke to the president about it.

Theres some real conflicts, Ruddy said. It would be strange that he would have a confidential conversation and then a few days later become a prosecutor of a person he may be investigating.

I think Mueller should have not taken the position if he was under consideration and had a private meeting with the president and was privy maybe to some of his thoughts, Ruddy added.

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, reacted to Ruddys interview on Twitter.

If President fired Bob Mueller, Congress would immediately re-establish independent counsel and appoint Bob Mueller. Don't waste our time.

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If President fired Bob Mueller, Congress would immediately re-establish independent counsel and appoint Bob Mueller. Don't waste our time.
Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) June 12, 2017

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), who had also questioned Muellers independence, said Tuesday morning that he does not think Trump would fire Mueller.

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I think the president actually is pretty confident that ultimately, this is all going to come out in the wash, and ultimately hes still going to be president, and this stuffs all going to go away, Gingrich told CBS This Morning, adding that he spoke to Trump Monday evening. However, Gingrich still insisted that Mueller leading the investigation was a rigged game.

This article has been updated with Gingrichs comments.