Donald Trump again rants against Robert Mueller and a 'witch hunt'

WASHINGTON — Aside from a few short tweets, President Trump had little to say Tuesday about two decisions that could prove pivotal to his presidency: Whether to strike Syria over a chemical weapons attack and whether to seek the removal of Special Counsel Robert Mueller from the Russia investigation.

Trump did not specifically mention Syria in brief public remarks before his meeting with the emir of Qatar, but he signaled agreement when his guest said they see "eye to eye" on the need to stop "the suffering of the Syrian people."

Regarding Mueller, Trump followed his Monday night tirade against the Russia special counsel with only a couple of brief tweets: "A TOTAL WITCH HUNT!!!" and "Attorney-client privilege is dead!"

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders also had little comment about Mueller, except to say Trump believes prosecutors have gone "too far" in seeking information from one of Trump's personal lawyers, Michael Cohen.

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While some legal analysts believe Trump would have to order the Justice Department to fire Mueller, Sanders said the White House has been advised that "the president certainly has the power to make that decision" on his own.

Sanders did not say whether Trump plans to do so, referring only to the president's comments of Monday night.

Speaking before a meeting with his military advisers about Syria and other national defense matters, Trump called the Mueller investigation "an attack on our country in a true sense. It’s an attack on what we all stand for."

Asked if he would fire Mueller, Trump told reporters "we’ll see what happens," and "many people have said you should fire him."

More:What about attorney-client privilege? How the FBI can obtain a warrant for Cohen's office

More:FBI raids Donald Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen's office, leading Trump to attack Robert Mueller

Congressional Democrats and Republicans have urged Trump not to take such a step and to let the investigation run its course.

“The investigation is critical to the health of our democracy, and must be allowed to continue," said Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.

Democrats said Trump's comments underscore the need for legislation that would block the president's ability to remove Mueller.

Congressional Republicans, however, said that would be unnecessary because they do not think Trump would seek Mueller's removal — and some warned that such a move might endanger his presidency.

"I have confidence in Mueller; the president ought to have confidence in Mueller," said Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, speaking on Fox Business Network, and added: "It would be suicide for the president to want to talk about firing Mueller."

Despite Trump’s comments, most Senate Republicans said the president knows better.

“It is still my view that Mueller should be allowed to finish his job, I think that’s the view of most people in Congress," Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told reporters.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, while acknowledging he hasn't spoken with the president about any plans for Mueller, said, "He’s not going to do that."

Democrats said Trump’s comments made it crystal clear that Congress had to act.

"Our Republican colleagues must not continue ignoring the elephant in the room,” Schumer said, adding: “Why not pass the legislation now and avoid a constitutional crisis?”

Sen. Mazie Hirono, a Democrat from Hawaii. said she doesn't understand McConnell's confidence that Trump won't move against Mueller: “We have a president who is totally unpredictable, who changes his mind all the time."

There are two bipartisan bills sitting in both the House and Senate that would protect Mueller, but there is no clear path for them to be brought up for a vote.

As for Syria, Trump met behind closed doors with advisers about how to address the reported chemical weapons attack on anti-government rebels and their children.

Trump spoke by phone with British Prime Minister Theresa May about the prospects of a joint response, perhaps one involving other allies like France.

“We’re going to continue to work with a number of our partners and allies as we determine what the next best steps are," Sanders said.

The president also huddled with lawyers about the Mueller investigation.

Democrats challenged the White House claim that Trump could dismiss the special counsel on his own. They said the president would have to direct Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to remove Mueller. Rosenstein, also attacked by Trump during his rant at the White House, has said he has seen no reason to remove the special counsel.

Mueller's office and Justice Department officials have not commented publicly on the Cohen search warrant, and people beyond those offices do not know exactly what agents were looking for.

Cohen's lawyer, Stephen Ryan, said the U.S. Attorney's office in New York City supervised the raid, based at least in part on a referral from Mueller's office. Ryan denounced an "unnecessary seizure of protected attorney client communications between a lawyer and his clients," but did not specify the documents that were taken.

A judge must sign off on a search warrant, and an application must have high-level approval from the Justice Department — with additional requirements when the target is an attorney. Legal analysts have said that probable cause can be grounds to breach the attorney-client relationship.

Ryan said his client has cooperated with the Mueller inquiry, which centers on possible links between Trump campaign associates and Russians who sought to influence the 2016 election through email hacks and phony news.

Mueller is also investigating whether Trump or others sought to obstruct the Russia investigation, including the 2017 decision to fire then-FBI Director James Comey.

In addition, Cohen has acknowledged paying adult film actress Stormy Daniels $130,000 out of his own pocket shortly before the 2016 election. Campaign finance groups have said that payment may have violated federal law.

In his Monday evening remarks at the White House, Trump said Mueller's investigation has a pro-Democratic bias and has found no evidence of wrongdoing involving Russians.

"So they find no collusion, and then they go from there and they say, 'well, let’s keep going,'” Trump said. "And they raid an office of a personal attorney early in the morning and I think it’s a disgrace."