In the wake of President Trump’s interview with The New York Times, where he hammered his Attorney General and pressed on the Russia investigation, MSNBC’s Chief Legal Correspondent Ari Melber demonstrated that NBC can’t get its story straight. “And with regard to [Special Counsel] Mueller … just to be clear, neither the new FBI director nor the president has any ability to remove the special counsel,” Melber told colleague Katy Tur during Thursday’s MTP Daily. But just over a month earlier, their colleagues were freaking out about just that.
“And while all of that was playing out today, the future of Robert Mueller, the Special Counsel in the Russian investigation has called into question,” announced Anchor Lester Holt during June 13’s NBC Nightly News. “Will they stay or not? This comes after a friend of the President says he thinks Mr. Trump is considering removing Mueller.”
“President Trump under fire amid explosive allegations he's considering firing Robert Mueller, the special counsel heading the Russia probe,” added White House Correspondent Kristen Welker during her report.
Melber’s new comments came after reporters from The Times questioned Trump about what he would do if Special Counsel Mueller looked into the Trump family finances. Trump refused to answer with any specifics but that didn’t stop the media from jumping to the worst possible scenario.
“So what sort of control, really, does the President have over those departments and what can he do? Can he end up firing all of those people that he's naming in that New York Times interview,” asked Tur. “No, he doesn't have lawful authority to remove all of those individuals, though he does over some,” Melber responded.
And if Melber’s assertion wasn’t clear enough, he reiterated himself, saying: “No, Mr. President, we have rules here that codify what it takes, and the president doesn't directly do it and he can only be dismissed for cause, unlike the FBI director who can be dismissed for any reason.”
Of course, the President has the power to fire Mueller. Is it advisable? Probably not.
But how do we know Melber is wrong? Because after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, the primetime cable channels (including MSNBC) compared Trump to Nixon 107 times on the first night. They made the connection because Nixon committed what was called “the Saturday night massacre” when he fired Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox during the Watergate scandal.
Even the National Review’s Rich Lowry said that Trump had that authority. “All sorts of people will tell Trump not to fire Mueller. But we can be pretty certain that Trump didn’t sign up for a free-floating investigation into his businesses and that he believes — and must feel confirmed in the belief — that fortune favors the recklessly bold,” he wrote. “If Trump doesn’t fire Mueller, it will only be because every other day he’s talked out of following his instincts.”
Transcript below:
MSNBC
MTP Daily
July 20, 2017
5:08:27 PM EasternKATY TUR: So what sort of control, really, does the President have over those departments and what can he do? Can he end up firing all of those people that he's naming in that New York Times interview?
ARI MELBER: No, he doesn't have lawful authority to remove all of those individuals, though he does over some. I will say one thing in fairness to President Trump and one thing that's so wrong with his comments.
In fairness when you play, as you fairly did, the entire context of some of those comments, what you hear are reporters pressing him on what are commonly called hypotheticals and then saying: “Well, what are you going to do about it?” And he showed some fairly un-Trumpian restraint in saying: “Well, I don't think it's going to happen. I'm not going to answer that.” He did not actually go as far as to say what he would do about this so-called red line. And so –
TUR: Most people wouldn't put themselves in that position though.
MELBER: No, they wouldn't. And he is who he is, but I just want to be fair to the White House that this is not some situation where he did tweet or go give a speech raising a red line about family finances. He's being asked repeatedly from porters, which is our job. I'm not even saying this to criticize the reporters. I'm just noting “what are you going to do about it” and he said, “Well, I don't think it's going to happen.”
(…)
TUR: So is he effectively, could you say, warning Chris Wray: “You've it got to be loyal to me?” Ultimately they do serve at the pleasure of the President, but they also serve the Constitution.
MELBER: That's correct. They have a duty to uphold the Constitution and the law. And while he does higher and fire the FBI director, so in that broad sense he overseas him, the FBI director, as a matter of the chain of command, formally reports to the deputy attorney general. And with regard to Mueller, who is going to be protected from all of this to a certain degree because of the role of the special council-- just to be clear, neither the new FBI director nor the president has any ability to remove the special counsel.
TUR: Can he undercut him?
MELBER: Well, I mean, the question is how cooperative or uncooperative or obstructive is he being?
TUR: Yeah.
MELBER: But you do run the hypothetical I was talking about earlier, which in fairness the president has not reached yet and you say that he is seeking the dismissal of the special counsel, the short answer is: No, Mr. President, we have rules here that codify what it takes, and the president doesn't directly do it and he can only be dismissed for cause, unlike the FBI director who can be dismissed for any reason.
TUR: Ari Melber, thank very much.
