Former Bush administration ethics lawyer Richard Painter dismissed President Donald Trump's claim that he could "do whatever I want with the Justice Department" by saying the president "is not a king," The Hill reported Saturday.

Painter compared Trump to Russian President Vladimir Putin and other world leaders who exert greater control over their government, reminding the president the laws were different in Russia and the U.S. He also scolded Trump saying he "picked the wrong country to be president of if he thinks he has absolute power to run the Justice Department however he wants."

"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," Painter said.

Painter also maintained Trump was "not above the law" and did not have the ability to fire Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is presently conducting an investigation into claims of collusion between the Trump 2016 presidential campaign and Russia.

"He is not above the law. He is not a king. He is a president in a constitutional model of government," Painter said.

In an interview on Thursday with The New York Times, Trump claimed he could intervene in the Justice Department when asked if he would request further investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server when she was Secretary of State. The president also said he thought Mueller would treat him "fairly" in the current investigation under way.

"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.