Democrats sounded the alarm Saturday after a lawyer for President Trump said special counsel Mueller should stop investigating Russia's interference in the 2016 election and Moscow's possible connection to the Trump campaign.
The top Democrats on the House and Senate intelligence committees called on both members of both parties to defend the importance of the investigation.
"Every member of Congress, Republican and Democrat, needs to speak up in defense of the Special Counsel. Now," tweeted Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va.
Warner's comment came after The Daily Beast published a statement from Trump lawyer John Dowd saying Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein should end Mueller's investigation.
“I pray that Acting Attorney General Rosenstein will follow the brilliant and courageous example of the FBI Office of Professional Responsibility and Attorney General Jeff Sessions and bring an end to alleged Russia Collusion investigation manufactured by McCabe’s boss James Comey based upon a fraudulent and corrupt Dossier," Dowd said.
He made the statement the day after Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe who was the agency's acting director this summer after Trump fired former director James Comey in May.
McCabe said he's being "singled out and treated this way because of the role I played, the actions I took, and the events I witnessed in the aftermath of the firing of James Comey.”
Sessions said McCabe's firing was the result of an "extensive and fair" probe of alleged misconduct, which concluded that he had made "an unauthorized disclosure to the news media and lacked candor − including under oath − on multiple occasions."
Trump applauded Sessions' decision early Saturday, calling it "a great day for democracy." "Andrew McCabe FIRED, a great day for the hard working men and women of the FBI," Trump said on Twitter.
Dowd's comment to The Daily Beast was a response to Session's decision, which he told NBC raises issues Rosenstein should consider about the timeline of the investigation.
In an exclusive interview with USA TODAY Monday, Rosenstein offered unqualified support for Mueller.
"The special counsel is not an unguided missile," Rosenstein said. "I don't believe there is any justification at this point for terminating the special counsel."
While Dowd first told The Daily Beast he spoke on behalf of the president, he later said he only expressed his personal beliefs.
Still, California Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House intelligence committee, tweeted that he's concerned Trump is trying to obstruct justice.
"The President, through his lawyer, called on DOJ to end Mueller probe. Obstruction of justice is no less a threat to our democracy when done in the open than behind closed doors," Schiff tweeted. "Every representative should condemn this flagrant abuse of power or stop pretending devotion to duty."
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said Dowd's comments "are yet another indication that the first instinct of the president and his legal team is not to cooperate with Special Counsel Mueller, but to undermine him at every turn."
Schumer warned of "severe consequences" if Mueller's probe was ended.
"The president, the administration, and his legal team must not take any steps to curtail, interfere with, or end the special counsel's investigation or there will be severe consequences from both Democrats and Republicans," Schumer said.
