A bipartisan team of senators introduced a bill Thursday to protect the special counsel from meddling by President Trump, as an emboldened Congress takes more swipes at the White House.
Sens. Thom Tillis, North Carolina Republican, and Chris Coons, Delaware Democrat, wrote the bill to create a judicial review should a president try to remove a special counsel.
The bill would write into law current department guidelines governing who can fire a special counsel, and make them retroactive to this year’s appointment of Robert Mueller, who was named special counsel to probe Russian meddling in the 2016 election — including dealings with Trump campaign figures.
If Mr. Mueller or any future special counsel were to be fired, the decision could be challenged before a special panel of three federal judges.
“It is critical that special counsels have the independence and resources they need to lead investigations,” Mr. Tillis said. “A back-end judicial review process to prevent unmerited removals of special counsels not only helps to ensure their investigatory independence, but also reaffirms our nation’s system of check and balances.”
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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