President Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani said Sunday the administration won’t be firing people to force an end to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation because it would draw comparisons to the Nixon-era Watergate controversy.
“The president’s not going to fire them because that would be playing into the hands, of you know, victim, Watergate,” Giuliani told “Fox News Sunday” guest host Bill Hemmer, who asked if Trump would need to fire anyone should Mueller not end the Russia investigation.
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Giuliani repeatedly criticized the FBI for using an informant to talk to people in the Trump campaign, arguing it had tainted Mueller’s investigation, which began after the use of the informant.
“They’re the Watergate. They’re the people who have committed the crimes,” Giuliani added.
The Trump lawyer’s remarks about Watergate were a reference to former President Nixon’s firing of special counsel Archibald Cox, a move that became known as the “Saturday Night Massacre” because two Justice officials resigned rather than carry out Nixon’s order.
Because Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from the Russia probe, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has overseen it.
Rosenstein has been at the center of speculation over whether Trump would fire him in an effort to end the Mueller probe.
Giuliani in the interview with Fox gave mixed signals on whether Trump would do an interview with Mueller.
He said Trump wants to sit down with the special counsel to clear his name in the collusion investigation, but will not do so if it is a “perjury trap.”
“My job has been to try and negotiate grounds for an interview,” the president’s attorney added.