CNN legal analyst Michael Zeldin said Thursday on “New Day” that President Donald Trump can’t fire special counsel Robert Mueller on his own and claimed that power falls to the attorney general.
“No, I don’t think [Trump] has the legal authority to fire Mueller by himself,” Zeldin told host Chris Cuomo. “The statute that was used to appoint Mueller designates that as an attorney general power — and the attorney general is the only one I believe, constitutionally, that has the right to fire Mueller.”
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Zeldin said even if the attorney general wanted to dismiss Mueller, he would need to prove Mueller had been derelict in his duties or would need to show just cause for his dismissal.
“The power of firing follows the power of appointing. Because the power of a appointment here stays with the AG by statute and regulation, it’s only the AG that can do it. And under those regulations, it can only be done with good cause or dereliction of duties,” Zeldin concluded. “There is a lot of talk about this as a legal strategy, but I don’t think it would be availing if it went to court.”
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