GOP lawmaker calls for Mueller to be fired in speech on House floor

In a speech on the House floor Wednesday, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) called for special counsel Robert Mueller to resign or be fired over his “indisputable conflicts of interest.”

“We are at risk of a coup d’état in this country if we allow an unaccountable person with no oversight to undermine the duly-elected President of the United States,” Gaetz said. “That is precisely what is happening right now with the indisputable conflicts of interest that are present with Mr. Mueller and others at the Department of Justice.”

“I join … in calling for Mr. Mueller’s resignation or his firing,” Gaetz continued.

{mosads}Last week, Gaetz introduced a resolution that argues Mueller is compromised because he served as FBI director when the Obama administration signed off on a deal allowing a Russian company to purchase a Canadian energy company with uranium operations in the U.S. in 2010.

“These deeply troubling events took place when Mr. Mueller was the Director of the FBI. As such, his impartiality is hopelessly compromised. He must step down immediately,” Gaetz said in a statement Friday.

Gaetz’s resolution currently has two co-sponsors, both of whom are members of the House Freedom Caucus: Reps. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) and Louie Gohmert (R-Texas).

In his Wednesday speech, Gaetz also called on the Justice Department to appoint a special counsel to “investigate the Clinton Foundation, the Uranium One deal and the Fusion GPS dossier.”

The Florida Republican’s speech and resolution follow the first indictments handed down in Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

President Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, was charged with multiple counts, including conspiracy against the United States and money laundering related to his work for a pro-Russia political party in Ukraine. Manafort’s former business associate, Richard Gates, was also indicted.

It was also announced last week that former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos pleaded guilty earlier in October to lying to FBI agents about his contacts with Russian officials.

The White House has repeatedly said Trump is not planning to fire Mueller.

“There is no intention or plan to make any changes in regards to the special counsel,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters at a press briefing last week.