President Trump’s legal team believes Attorney General Jeff Session’s Justice Department and the FBI, more than special counsel Robert Mueller, are to blame for what they see as a witch hunt. They want an additional special counsel named to investigate the investigators, Axios reports. The new demand was prompted by a Fox News report that Bruce Ohr, a senior Justice Department official, was demoted for concealing his meetings with the men behind the anti-Trump ‘dossier.’ Ohr’s wife worked for the firm involved, Fusion GPS, during the 2016 election.
Jay Sekulow, a lawyer for the president, said, “The Department of Justice and FBI cannot ignore the multiple problems that have been created by these obvious conflicts of interests. These new revelations require the appointment of a Special Counsel to investigate.” Unlike some other Republicans, Trump’s lawyers say they respect Mueller and trust him, and want to get to the finish line with him. The Trump lawyers’ strategy is to cooperate with Mueller, insist publicly they have nothing to hide, and expect the president to be fully cleared early in the new year. Senate Judiciary Committee member Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said, “I will be challenging Rs and Ds on Senate Judiciary Committee to support a Special Counsel to investigate ALL THINGS 2016 — not just Trump and Russia.”