GOP House member calls on Mueller to resign

Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) is calling on Robert Mueller, special counsel for the Justice Department’s Russia investigation, to resign.

Franks, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, claims Mueller is violating a law governing the special counsel that prohibits him from serving if he has a “conflict of interest,” which includes “a personal relationship with any person substantially involved in the conduct that is the subject of the investigation or prosecution.”

Franks cited a Fox News report from May that cast Mueller and former FBI Director James Comey as “longtime allies.” Mueller served as the FBI director when Comey was the deputy attorney general in 2003. The investigation into Russia’s meddling int he 2016 presidential election has expanded to include possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia, as well as the president’s decision to fire Comey earlier this year.

“Bob Mueller is in clear violation of federal code and must resign to maintain the integrity of the investigation into alleged Russian ties,” Franks said in a statement.

{mosads}“Those who worked under them have attested he and Jim Comey possess a close friendship, and they have delivered on-the-record statements effusing praise of one another.”

Fox News reported that Mueller was a confident to Comey when he talked President George W. Bush out of renewing a controversial surveillance program and even offered to resign alongside him if need be.

“No one knows Mr. Mueller’s true intentions, but neither can anyone dispute that he now clearly appears to be a partisan arbiter of justice,” Franks said.

“Accordingly, the law is also explicitly clear: he must step down based on this conflict of interest.”