If Pres. Trump’s denial of the reports stating he sought to fire Special Counsel Mueller are false, would that be grounds for impeachment? Ken Starr tells @MarthaRaddatz, “I take lying to the American people very, very seriously. So, absolutely.” #ThisWeek pic.twitter.com/m5Ro54N4LJ
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) January 28, 2018
Ken Starr, the former independent counsel who investigated Bill Clinton, recently said there’s no apparent evidence that President Donald Trump broke any laws in the Russia probe. Now, he doesn’t seem to be so sure. POTUS ordered the firing of special counsel Robert Mueller last June amid news that Mueller was looking into Trump for a possible obstruction of justice case, according to The New York Times. This contradicts the president’s claim that he never did such a thing.
“I think lying to the American people is a serious issue that has to be explored,” Starr said in Sunday’s episode of This Week. He later added that “I think that is something that Bob Mueller should look at.”
He stops short of saying Trump broke the law, however. Starr appeared on This Week to debate Law&Crime founder Dan Abrams over whether the reported request was illegal. Abrams argued it could support a possible obstruction of justice case if this were part of a pattern of behavior meant to end the investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded in Russian 2016 election interference.
Starr said no, the request was fine because the president only wanted to fire Mueller because he disliked him.
“The president’s power is extremely broad as long as he’s not engaged in discrimination or accepting bribes,” Starr said.
Abrams agreed that Trump could legally order the firing of Mueller, but argued that “that’s not the relevant question here.”
[Screengrab via ABC]
