The calls to fire special counsel Robert Mueller could grow louder this week. | J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo Firing Mueller 'obviously' up to Trump, Mnuchin says

Any decision to fire special counsel Robert Mueller is "obviously" up to President Donald Trump, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin says.

"I don't have any reason to think that the president is going to do that, but that's obviously up to him," Mnuchin said Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union."


He noted that he had dinner with the president and Vice President Mike Pence at Camp David on Saturday and that he hadn't "heard anything about this, any firing."

Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling in last year’s presidential election has come under increased scrutiny from Capitol Hill conservatives after it was revealed that one of the members of his team was dismissed for sending anti-Trump text messages.

The calls to fire the former FBI director could grow louder this week after a lawyer for the Trump transition team accused Mueller of unlawfully obtaining tens of thousands of private emails during its investigation. Mueller's spokesman, though, says all the acquisitions were legal.

POLITICO Playbook newsletter Sign up today to receive the #1-rated newsletter in politics Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

On Sunday, Mnuchin said, "We have got to get past this investigation."

"It's a giant distraction," he said. "Nobody has said that in any way this impacted the outcome of the election."

Mnuchin said the probe "should be over quickly, since I think there is nothing there."

"People want to focus on other things, he said.