Acting US Attorney-General Matt Whitaker to stay on Mueller case

Donald Trump’s Acting ­Attorney-General will not recuse himself from the oversight of special counsel Robert Mueller.

Matt Whitaker wrote last year that he did not agree with the broad scope of the Mueller investigation. Picture: AP

Donald Trump’s Acting ­Attorney-General Matt Whitaker will not recuse himself from the oversight of special counsel Robert Mueller and is likely to oppose any move to subpoena the US President.

According to The Washington Post, those close to Mr Whitaker say he will ignore calls by Democrats who want him to recuse himself from the Mueller probe because of his previous criticism of the Russia investigation.

The developments add to the controversy over the temporary appointment of Mr Whitaker following Mr Trump’s decision this week to sack attorney-general Jeff Sessions.

House Democrats have called on Republicans to hold an emergency meeting on the appointment of Mr Whitaker.

In a letter to House of Representatives judiciary committee chairman Bob Goodlatte, Democrat committee members said the Mueller probe was at “grave risk” because of Mr Whitaker’s “well documented hostility” towards the investigation.

“President Trump has therefore paved the way not only to curtail the investigation, but also to dismiss the special counsel,” they wrote.

Ethics officials at the Justice Department are expected to review Mr Whitaker’s past words and actions to see if there is a conflict of interest but they can only offer advice to him and have no power to enforce their advice.

Mr Whitaker wrote last year that he did not agree with the broad scope of the Mueller investigation. “Mueller has come up to a red line in the Russia 2016 election-meddling investigation that he is dangerously close to crossing,” Mr Whitaker wrote.

He also tweeted a Philly.com column titled “Note to Trump’s lawyer: Do not co-operate with Mueller lynch mob,” and added: “Worth a read”.

Then in July last year Mr Whitaker mused about a scenario where a replacement for Mr Sessions cut off funding to Mueller and his team.

“So I could see a scenario where Jeff Sessions is replaced with a recess appointment,” he said, “and that attorney-general doesn’t fire Bob Mueller, but he just reduces his budget to so low that his investigation grinds to almost a halt.”

Mr Whitaker will only act in the position temporarily until a new attorney-general is appointed but his name is reportedly among those being considered.

Yesterday he attended a formal investiture in Washington for new Supreme Court judge Brett ­Kavanaugh in place of Mr Sessions.

If Mr Mueller plans to issue a subpoena to the President it is ­likely to occur before the end of the year, which means Mr Whitaker is likely to still be Acting Attorney-General. No subpoena has yet been issued and the Mueller team have so far only sent written ­questions to Mr Trump and his lawyers.

George Conway, a lawyer and the husband of White House counsellor Kellyanne Conway, co-authored an article yesterday claiming Mr Whitaker’s appointment was unconstitutional because constitutional provisions state that a “principal officer” in the federal government may not be appointed without Senate confirmation. “It’s illegal. And it means that anything Mr Whitaker does, or tries to do, in that position is invalid,” Mr Conway wrote.

Mr Trump sacked Mr Sessions on Thursday more than a year after they fell out because of Mr Sessions’ decision to recuse himself from the Russia investigation.

The President believed that decision led to the situation where Mr Sessions’ deputy Rod Rosenstein appointed a special counsel — an appointment that guaranteed a far larger and broader probe into the Russia question.

Democrats fear the removal of Mr Sessions — a day after the mid-term elections — is designed to undermine the Mueller team as it nears the end of its investigation.

Mr Mueller is reported to have already begun writing his final report. The sprawling investigation that has been going for more than a year will examine Russian interference in the 2016 election, any collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign team and whether the president sought at any time to obstruct justice in relation to the FBI’s Russia probe.

Cameron Stewart is also US contributor for Sky News Australia