The New York Times reveals President Trump wanted to fire Special Counsel Robert Mueller last December in what is now the second well-known account of the president wanting to get rid of the man investigating him, in spite of Republican lawmakers insisting the president would not take that step. (UPDATE: NYT's Maggie Haberman tweets "There have been others.")
Eight White House officials tell the Times the president was ready to fire Mueller again in December after news reports said the special counsel's office issued subpoenas to Deutsche Bank for information about Trump's business dealings.
In the hours that followed Mr. Trump’s initial anger over the Deutsche Bank reports, his lawyers and advisers worked quickly to learn about the subpoenas, and ultimately were told by Mr. Mueller’s office that the reports were not accurate, leading the president to back down.
Mr. Trump’s quick conclusion that the erroneous news reports warranted firing Mr. Mueller is also an insight Mr. Trump’s state of mind about the special counsel. Despite assurances from leading Republicans like Speaker Paul D. Ryan that the president has not thought about firing Mr. Mueller, the December episode was the second time Mr. Trump is now known to have considered taking that step.
(...)
The December episode, which has never been publicly reported, has new resonance following the disclosure on Monday that F.B.I. agents had carried out search warrants at the office and hotel room of Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael D. Cohen. In that action, the Justice Department seems to have walked directly up to — if not crossed — Mr. Trump’s red line by examining something that seems unrelated to Russia.
Read more: Trump Sought to Fire Mueller in December (NYT)
Related: NYT: Trump Ordered Mueller Fired