Blumenthal: ‘Credible case of obstruction of justice’ against Trump

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) argued Friday that there’s a “credible case of obstruction of justice” against President Trump after reports that Trump tried to fire special counsel Robert Mueller last year.

“There’s a credible case of obstruction of justice against the president of the United States,” Blumenthal said on CNN’s “OutFront.”

“What we’re seeing, in fact, extraordinarily, is obstruction of justice in a sense unfolding right before us in real time with the actions and statements that [Trump] is making,” said Blumenthal, who serves on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

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“You referred earlier to his saying he is fighting back and that he has a right to fight back. He is entitled to make a defense, he has a right to present arguments and facts that exonerate him,” he continued. “He has no right to misuse the powers of his office to intimidate witnesses, to fire prosecutors, to withhold documents or destroy them, and that is a very clear line that evidently he doesn’t respect.”

Blumenthal’s comments come after The New York Times reported Thursday that Trump attempted to fire Mueller last June, but backed off after White House counsel Don McGahn refused Trump’s order and threatened to quit.

Trump also reportedly considered removing Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, the Justice Department’s second-highest official, and appointing Associate Attorney General Rachel Brand to oversee Mueller’s team of prosecutors, but that option also never materialized.

Trump reportedly said Mueller had conflicts of interest in his investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election, including a dispute over fees at Trump’s National Golf Club in Virginia and Mueller’s previous employment at a law firm that represents Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, according to the Times.

Congressional Democrats quickly seized on the report to accuse Trump of what they say is obstruction of justice, and Blumenthal responded to the report by calling for the Senate to take up bills aimed at protecting Mueller from being fired by Trump.

Trump on Friday dismissed the report that he attempted to fire Mueller last summer, calling it “fake news.”

“Fake news. Fake news. Typical New York Times. Fake stories,” Trump told reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.