Trump: McGahn wasn’t responsible for keeping Mueller, Sessions

President Trump on Thursday denied that outgoing White House counsel Don McGahn stopped him from firing special counsel Robert Mueller or Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

“I am very excited about the person who will be taking the place of Don McGahn as White House Councel! I liked Don, but he was NOT responsible for me not firing Bob Mueller or Jeff Sessions. So much Fake Reporting and Fake News!” Trump tweeted.

I am very excited about the person who will be taking the place of Don McGahn as White House Councel! I liked Don, but he was NOT responsible for me not firing Bob Mueller or Jeff Sessions. So much Fake Reporting and Fake News!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 30, 2018

The president did not say if another individual prevented him from firing Mueller or Sessions. But the tweet appeared to imply that firing the two men had been discussed in the White House, as reported by multiple media outlets.

{mosads}Trump announced in a tweet Wednesday morning that McGahn will depart the White House after Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation. He praised him later in the day as a “very good man.”

In a separate tweet Thursday morning, Trump denied reports that his daughter, Ivanka Trump, and her husband, Jared Kushner, played a role in McGahn’s departure.

The New York Times has reported that Trump considered firing Mueller on two separate occasions. He reportedly backed off in June 2017 when McGahn threatened to quit.

Following another Times report that Trump again discussed firing Mueller last December, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters in April that she hadn’t spoken with the president about that topic.

Prior to that, the White House said repeatedly for months that Trump had not discussed firing Mueller.

Trump has had an increasingly contentious relationship with Sessions, frequently stating that he would not have nominated the former senator for attorney general if he knew Sessions would recuse himself from the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

The Times reported that Trump’s relationship with McGahn soured after McGahn failed to stop Sessions from recusing himself.

Republicans and Democrats have warned Trump against firing Sessions, particularly since a recent Fox News interview in which Trump accused his attorney general of failing to properly investigate Democrats.