WASHINGTON—A senior Republican senator said Thursday he is crafting legislation to protect the independence of the special counsel investigation into Russian activity during the 2016 election, a response to President Donald Trump’s criticism of the probe, which he has called a “witch hunt.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) told reporters Thursday that he will introduce a bill next week that would curtail the power of the president to fire a special counsel under some circumstances without approval from a federal judge.

The legislation will say that “a special counsel cannot be fired when they were impaneled to investigate the president or his team unless you have judicial review of the firing,” Mr. Graham said. He said the legislation would apply to Mr. Trump and future presidents.

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“We need a check and balance here,” said Mr. Graham, who as a member of the House of Representatives in the 1990s helped manage impeachment proceedings against Bill Clinton over perjury and obstruction of justice allegations.

According to a January report from the U.S. intelligence community, Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election was directed at the highest levels of its government. Its tactics included hacking state election systems; infiltrating and leaking information from party committees and political strategists; and disseminating through social media and other outlets negative stories about Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and positive ones about Mr. Trump, the report said.

“ Any effort to go after Mueller could be the beginning of the end of the Trump presidency ” — Sen. Lindsey Graham

The investigation into the meddling, including whether anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign colluded in the effort, is being led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, a former prosecutor and former head of the FBI. Mr. Trump cannot directly remove Mr. Mueller and Justice Department regulations require any firing to be for “misconduct, dereliction of duty, incapacity, conflict of interest, or for other good cause”—though the president could ask the leadership at the Justice Department to terminate Mr. Mueller.


Mr. Trump has called the probe a “witch hunt” and has suggested that if the special counsel investigation started looking into his finances, that would be a “violation” of its mandate. Mr. Trump has declined to say whether he would try to remove Mr. Mueller.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller is taking over the investigation into potential links between President Trump's campaign and Russian officials. WSJ's Shelby Holliday explains just how broad his authority can go. (Originally published May 19, 2017)

Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) said it would be "explosive" if the White House dismissed special counsel Robert Mueller, in comments at the WSJ CFO Network annual meeting. (Originally published June 13, 2017)

Mr. Trump has expressed his displeasure with Attorney General Jeff Sessions in interviews and on Twitter, criticizing the former Alabama senator’s decision to recuse himself from management of the Russia investigation. Because Mr. Sessions is recused, he cannot make any decisions around the special counsel, including firing him.

In a Wall Street Journal interview this week, Mr. Trump described himself as “very disappointed in Jeff Sessions.” On Twitter, he has repeatedly said that Mr. Sessions should investigate Mrs. Clinton instead.

Mr. Sessions recused himself from the Russia investigation in March after questions were raised about his contacts with the Russian ambassador during last year’s election. The investigation was managed by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein until Mr. Trump fired FBI director James Comey in May.

A week after the firing of the FBI director, Mr. Rosenstein put Mr. Mueller in charge of the investigation in an effort to insulate it from political pressure. Special counsels operate outside the normal Justice Department chain of command.


Mr. Trump’s public musings about removing his attorney general over his handling of the Russia matter raised alarm on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers from both parties are warning the president not to take any steps to undermine the investigation.

“If Jeff Sessions is fired, there will be holy hell to pay,” said Mr. Graham. “Any effort to go after Mueller could be the beginning of the end of the Trump presidency.”

He said Mr. Trump was proposing “turning democracy upside down” by subverting the independence of the Justice Department.

Other members of Congress also warned Mr. Trump against firing Mr. Sessions and trying to use his power to make a recess appointment when Congress goes home for two weeks in August. The Senate has frequently held “pro forma” sessions in recent years in part to block the White House from making such appointments.


“If you’re thinking of making a recess appointment to push out the attorney general, forget about it,” said Sen. Ben Sasse, a Nebraska Republican.

In 2012, former President Barack Obama made several temporary appointments during brief Senate breaks, in an effort to overcome Republican resistance to his nominees. The Supreme Court later ruled he exceeded his constitutional authority.

Mr. Graham’s legislation would need to be approved by the Republican-controlled Senate and House of Representatives, where many Republicans have been more protective of Mr. Trump than in the Senate.

The president could also veto the legislation, which could be overturned by two-thirds of the House and Senate.


If Mr. Sessions is fired by Mr. Trump or resigns, the Senate could deny Mr. Trump the ability to permanently replace him. The attorney general must be approved by the Senate, and even conservative Republicans warned the president this week that confirming a new attorney general would be difficult.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa) the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, tweeted this week that the committee’s schedule for the year was already set and “no way” included room to consider an attorney general nomination.

Write to Byron Tau at byron.tau@wsj.com