GOP warns Trump over firing Mueller, Trump calls his probe a ‘witch hunt’

US House Speaker Paul Ryan and a number of other key Republicans have warned US President Donald Trump over his increasing belligerence toward special counsel Robert Mueller and his ongoing Russia investigation.

Ryan said Sunday that President Trump should let special counsel Robert Mueller carry out his investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

“As the Speaker has always said, Mr. Mueller and his team should be able to do their job,” AshLee Strong, a spokeswoman for Ryan, said in a statement issued Sunday.

Following the abrupt firing of FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe by Attorney General Jeff Sessions  on Friday, Trump has ratcheted up his criticism against the ongoing investigation about Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

PressTV-Sessions fires Andrew McCabe from FBI

Attorney General Sessions has fired Andrew McCabe, the No. 2 official at the FBI and a longtime target of President Trump.

Trump asserted on Saturday that Mueller's investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia should never have been opened in the first place, calling it a “witch hunt” once again.

"The Mueller probe should never have been started in that there was no collusion and there was no crime," Trump wrote on Twitter Saturday night.

Other Republicans join Ryan chorus 

Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina also warned Trump over the matter, saying that if Trump tried to fire Mueller, “that would be the beginning of the end of his presidency.”

Republican Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday that he thinks Trump is moving closer to firing Mueller and that he expects Republicans to push back against any effort by Trump to end the investigation.

However, neither senator said what, if anything, they might do if the president fires the special counsel.

Senator John McCain also praised special counsel Robert Mueller amid speculation that President Trump may be preparing to fire the former Republican FBI director and seasoned attorney.

“Special Counsel Mueller has served our country with honesty and integrity. It’s critical he be allowed to complete a thorough investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election — unimpeded,” McCain tweeted.

Mueller, a Republican, has obtained guilty pleas from three former Trump associates, and indicted former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort.

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