Robert Mueller, the special counsel investigating possible links between Donald Trump's presidential campaign and the Russian government, is expanding his probe — he's digging into Trump's financials and business dealings.

And while Mueller's investigation is a non-partisan look at the facts relating to the campaign, Trump's White House is trying to discredit Mueller and his team. The president's not happy with Mueller, and his staff are making their disdain for the investigator quite clear.

Today on our show, former White House ethics lawyer Richard Painter said Trump and his staff are breaking ethics guidelines by attacking Mueller's character. Painter called for Kellyanne Conway, one of Trump's top counselors and defacto spokeswoman, to be fired for her public comments against Mueller. These are the highlights from the conversation, lightly edited:

Host Tom Ashbrook: "Richard Painter, you were the top ethics guy in the White House, is it correct for this president even to be firing across the bow of Robert Mueller in the way he is? Is it ethically right?

Richard Painter: "No, it's not. He should be focusing on doing his job and let this investigation take its course. Robert Mueller isn't running around saying a bunch of stuff, he's just doing his job.