Calls to codify protections for special counsel Robert Mueller and his investigation into possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign have taken on more urgency this month after the president fired his attorney general and replaced him on an acting basis with a critic of the probe. | Andrew Burton/Getty Images congress Republicans block Mueller protection bill from Senate floor vote Coons accused McConnell of trying to protect Trump.

Senate Republicans blocked a bipartisan push to vote on legislation protecting special counsel Robert Mueller on Wednesday.

After Sens. Chris Coons (D-Del.), Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) sought to bring the bill to the floor, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) objected to the request and argued the bill was unconstitutional.


Lee said the “prosecutorial authority of the United States belongs to the Department of Justice,” warning that the bill did not respect the separation of powers and would create a “de facto fourth branch of government.”

His remarks echo those of Senate GOP leaders, who have consistently rebuffed calls to consider the measure. On Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said the bill was “a solution in search of a problem.”

Earlier Wednesday, Coons accused McConnell of protecting the president by blocking a vote on the bill.

Asked directly on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” whether McConnell was trying to protect President Donald Trump, Coons quickly replied “yes,” citing support for legislation to shield Mueller from Senate Republicans across the ideological spectrum, including Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa).

Calls to codify protections for Mueller and his investigation into possible collusion between Russia and Trump’s 2016 campaign have taken on more urgency this month after the president fired Attorney General Jeff Sessions and replaced him on an acting basis with Matthew Whitaker, who has criticized the Mueller investigation in the past.

The GOP-led Judiciary Committee approved a bill last spring that would insulate Mueller from outside influence.

Flake has threatened to withhold his vote on any judicial nominees until the measure gets a floor vote, and in a split with McConnell, Majority Whip John Cornyn said Tuesday that leadership might acquiesce to Flake’s demand after all in order to free up a needed vote.

Some Republicans have opposed the bill on constitutional grounds, Coons said, and while he has discussed those issues with lawmakers, he disagreed that the legislation is unconstitutional, citing Grassley’s support as evidence.

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But other opponents, including McConnell, simply have said they are confident Trump or Whitaker won’t move to fire Mueller or shake up the probe in any other way, like restricting its funding — an unsatisfactory excuse, Coons said, because of Trump’s demonstrated unpredictability.

“I think, frankly, at the end of the day, Leader McConnell has gotten reassurances from the president that he won’t act against Mueller, but those assurances are undermined every single day when President Trump both tweets untrue criticisms of Robert Mueller and his investigation and does other things that are unexpected or unconventional or unjustified,” Coons said.

“They don’t have an answer other than, well, it would be a bad thing to do so it won’t happen. This is the easiest way possible to prevent an entirely predictable constitutional crisis.”

Concern about Whitaker’s oversight of the Russia probe is more widespread among senators than some were willing to publicly admit, Coons said on Wednesday, cautioning that any tampering by the acting attorney general might not be discovered until after the fact, necessitating the bill’s passage now.

“A number of senators of both parties have privately agreed that Whitaker is a less reliable supervisor and may well stumble into interfering with the Mueller investigation or may do it intentionally,” he said. “Here is one of the things that worries me the most, which will, yeah, we wouldn’t know until after he had taken steps that would constrain the Mueller investigation in ways that would prevent it from concluding appropriately.”

There are no plans in place now to tie the Mueller protection bill to must-pass legislation — like a spending bill that needs to move by next Friday to avoid shutting down swaths of the government — Coons said, adding that he believes the issue should be dealt with separately as soon as possible so lawmakers can shift gears to focus on avoiding a shutdown.

