Story highlights Trump and his top aides have routinely slammed the probe

"Look, we want to see this come to a complete and full conclusion," Sanders said

Washington (CNN) President Donald Trump hasn't fired special counsel Robert Mueller partly because of how the press would react to the dismissal, the White House said Tuesday.

Trump and his top aides have routinely slammed the probe as nothing more than a witch hunt or a hoax, leading some to question why he hasn't fired Mueller in the first place. But the White House appears keenly aware that any attempt to get rid of Mueller could create a massive public relations headache that could envelop the administration.

"Look, we want to see this come to a complete and full conclusion," said White House press secretary Sarah Sanders. "I think we all know what everybody in this room would do if the President did that, and I don't think that is helpful to the process."

She added that Trump "wants to see this end and he wants to see them finally come to the same conclusion that I think most everyone in America has that there is nothing to this."

Sanders then turned on the media, saying that reporters have spent "the better part of a year looking, digging, obsessing over trying to find something and have yet to find anything."

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