President Trumps war against the pervasive Deep State is slowly ratcheting up, as talk of Special Counsel Robert Mueller being fired is discussed inside the White House and Press more and more. The Deep State isnt pleased.
During a panel session at the Aspen Security Forum, Obama-era CIA Director John Brennan could barely hide his contempt for President Trump, suggesting an executive branch decision to fire Mueller should result in the removal of the Commander-in-Chief. In other words, a coup.
In the most vocal opposition to president Donald Trump yet, former CIA Director John Brennan said that if the White House tries to fire special counsel Robert Mueller, government officials should refuse to follow the president orders, as they would be in his view inconsistent with the duties of the executive branch.
I think its the obligation of some executive branch officials to refuse to carry that out. I would just hope that this is not going to be a partisan issue. That Republicans, Democrats are going to see that the future of this government is at stake and something needs to be done for the good of the future, Brennan told CNNs Wolf Blitzer at the Aspen Security Forum, effectively calling for a coup against the president should Trump give the order to fire Mueller.
Brennan has had it out for Trump even before he was president. The Former CIA director got the FBIs probe of the Trump team rolling claiming back in May to the House Intelligence Committee that he was intercepting tidbits on Trump associates making contacts with Russians.
[Brennan] believed the contacts were numerous enough to alert the FBI, which began its probe into Trump associates that same July, according to previous congressional testimony from then-FBI director James B. Comey.
The FBI probe of contacts came the same month the intelligence community fingered Russian agents as orchestrating hacks into Democratic Party computers and providing stolen emails to WikiLeaks.
Mr. Brennan, who has not hidden his dislike for Mr. Trump, testified he briefed the investigations progress to Mr. Obama, who at the time was trying to aid Hillary Clinton in her campaign against the Republican nominee.
As Mr. Brennan described his actions to the House committee: I wanted to make sure that every information and bit of intelligence that we had was shared with the bureau [FBI] so that they could take it. It was well beyond my mandate as director of CIA to follow on any of those leads that involved U.S. persons. But I made sure that anything that was involving U.S. persons, including anything involving the individuals involved in the Trump campaign, was shared with the bureau.
I was aware of intelligence and information about contacts between Russian officials and U.S. persons that raised concerns in my mind about whether or not those individuals were cooperating with the Russians, either in a witting or unwitting fashion, and it served as the basis for the FBI investigation to determine whether such collusion [or] cooperation occurred, Mr. Brennan added.
Still to this day, neither the FBI or CIA has made an official statement laying out tangible events where any members of the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to win the 2016 presidential election.
In the most vocal opposition to president Donald Trump yet, former CIA Director John Brennan said that if the White House tries to fire special counsel Robert Mueller, government officials should refuse to follow the president orders, as they would be in his view inconsistent with the duties of the executive branch.
I think its the obligation of some executive branch officials to refuse to carry that out. I would just hope that this is not going to be a partisan issue. That Republicans, Democrats are going to see that the future of this government is at stake and something needs to be done for the good of the future, Brennan told CNNs Wolf Blitzer at the Aspen Security Forum, effectively calling for a coup against the president should Trump give the order to fire Mueller.
an independent probe would have less power and less independence than many realize.
The 1977 law that created the role of the special prosecutor, placing few limitations on the length, cost or scope of independent investigations, expired in 1999. As a result, that option is effectively off the table, unless Congress reauthorizes the law or passes a new one. Neither scenario seems likely right now, with Republicans in control of Congress and Mr. Trump in the White House.
According to legal experts, the next best option for Democrats seeking an outside probe is for the Department of Justice to appoint a special counsel an investigator with less freedom than a special prosecutor, and whose investigation could be curtailed or stopped altogether at any time by the Trump administration.
The titles are often used interchangeably, even by members of Congress. But their differences are real and go beyond semantics, a point that has been largely overlooked in the clamor over Trumps unexpected decision Tuesday to remove Comey from his post as the FBI director.
If the Department of Justice appointed a special counsel to examine Trumps connections to Russia, the investigator would not be completely independent, said Nathaniel Persily, a constitutional law expert at Stanford University.
There are Department of Justice regulations for preserving autonomy, but none of that prevents the special counsel from being fired by Trump for any reason whatsoever, Persily said.