Sens. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.) plan to ask for a floor vote on legislation to shield Special Counsel Robert Mueller from a firing when the upper chamber returns to session next week.
The bipartisan Mueller protection legislation cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee in April but has seen no floor action amid public skepticism from Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) that Mueller’s Russia investigation faces any legitimate threat from President Trump.
Following Trump’s Wednesday ousting of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and appointment of acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker — who has publicly criticized the Mueller probe — Flake tweeted, “it is more important than ever to protect the Special Counsel.”
Flake and Coons’ plan to seek unanimous agreement for the Senate to vote on the bill, however, is still likely to draw an objection from the GOP side of the aisle.
McConnell told a radio station in his home state on Thursday that “I don’t think there’s any chance that the Mueller investigation will not be allowed to finish” in light of Sessions’ departure from the Department of Justice.
Democrats are all but guaranteed to support next week’s bipartisan push for action on the Mueller protection bill, which was the product of months-long talks to combine two different versions of the legislation.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) joined Flake and the Republican initial sponsors of themeasures to protect the Mueller probe, Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, in voting for the bill when the committee approved it earlier this year.
Mueller and his team of prosecutors are in the process of writing a final report on the nearly 18-month long investigation into Russian meddling during the 2016 election, sources tell ABC News.
The timing for when a final report would be submitted by the special counsel’s office is still unclear, and sources say there is also no clear timeline for when Mueller will wrap his investigation.
President Donald Trump’s legal team has begun working with the president to craft responses to questions from Mueller’s team as part of their investigation, sources close to Trump told ABC.
The nearly year and a half long investigation by the special counsel stems from allegations of Russia coordinating with members of the Trump presidential campaign.