Richard Painter, the former top ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush administration, said President Trump Donald John TrumpFederal prosecutor speaks out, says Barr 'has brought shame' on Justice Dept. Former Pence aide: White House staffers discussed Trump refusing to leave office Progressive group buys domain name of Trump's No. 1 Supreme Court pick MORE "is not a king" in response to Trump's remark that he “can do whatever I want with the Justice Department."

Painter said Friday on CNN that Trump “picked the wrong country to be president of if he thinks he has absolute power to run the Justice Department however he wants.”

He compared Trump's idea of America to Russian President Vladimir Putin's control of Russia.

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“That may be the way it works in Putin‘s Russia and other places, but that’s not the way it works here. There are laws, and he has been sworn to uphold the law and the Constitution of the United States,” he said.

Painter added that Trump doesn’t have the right to pressure Attorney General Jeff Sessions Jefferson (Jeff) Beauregard SessionsRoy Moore sues Alabama over COVID-19 restrictions GOP set to release controversial Biden report Trump's policies on refugees are as simple as ABCs MORE to fire special counsel Robert Mueller Robert (Bob) MuellerCNN's Toobin warns McCabe is in 'perilous condition' with emboldened Trump CNN anchor rips Trump over Stone while evoking Clinton-Lynch tarmac meeting The Hill's 12:30 Report: New Hampshire fallout MORE, even as Mueller investigates former and current Trump staffers.

“[Trump] is not above the law and that’s the bottom line,” Painter said. “He is not above the law. He is not a king. He is a president in a constitutional model of government.”

Trump told The New York Times on Thursday that he can do what he wants with the Department of Justice when asked if he would reopen the investigation into former secretary of State Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonBloomberg rolls out M ad buy to boost Biden in Florida Hillicon Valley: Productivity, fatigue, cybersecurity emerge as top concerns amid pandemic | Facebook critics launch alternative oversight board | Google to temporarily bar election ads after polls close Trump pledges to make Juneteenth a federal holiday, designate KKK a terrorist group in pitch to Black voters MORE’s use of a private email server.

"I have absolute right to do what I want to do with the Justice Department. But for purposes of hopefully thinking I’m going to be treated fairly, I’ve stayed uninvolved with this particular matter," Trump said.

Trump also said that he believed Mueller will treat him fairly in the investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia.