Blumenthal: Whitaker appointment raises ‘danger of a slow-motion Saturday Night Massacre’

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) on Monday said that he fears the appointment of acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker poses the “danger of a slow-motion Saturday Night Massacre.”

Blumenthal and two other Democratic senators are suing to block Whitaker from serving as attorney general. He said Whitaker could curtail special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation in a “death by a thousand cuts.” 

{mosads}”What we have here is the danger of a slow-motion ‘Saturday Night Massacre,’ death by a thousand cuts,” Blumenthal said on CNN’s “New Day.” “Cuts in funding that could strangle the investigation, cuts in authority, cuts in subpoenas that may not be public.” 

Democrats file a suit challenging acting AG Matthew Whitaker’s appointment. “If he has declined to approve a subpoena or an indictment, which he could do in supervising the investigation, we may not know about it at this point,” explains @SenBlumenthal https://t.co/C0y2wlAAGv pic.twitter.com/z6xfyQIeJ3

— New Day (@NewDay) November 20, 2018

The so-called “Saturday Night Massacre” in 1973 was set into motion when then-President Nixon fired the special prosecutor leading the Watergate investigation. The firing prompted the resignation of the attorney general and deputy attorney general. 

Blumenthal and Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) are suing in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, arguing that Whitaker’s appointment violated the appointments clause of the constitution, which requires principal federal officers be appointed only with the Senate’s advice and consent.

Trump named Whitaker to the acting role earlier this month after former Attorney General Jeff Sessions submitted his resignation at the president’s request.

Whitaker had previously been Sessions’s chief of staff, a role that does not require Senate confirmation.

Blumenthal said on CNN there is “no overt evidence” that Whitaker has so far sought to undermine Mueller’s probe into possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia, but “there would not be any probably at this point.” 

“There is no overt evidence, no public indication yet, but there would not be any probably at this point,” Blumenthal said. “If he has declined to approve a subpoena or an indictment, which he could do in supervising the investigation, we may not know about it at this point.” 

Since Whitaker’s appointment, Democrats have called on him to recuse himself from Mueller’s investigation, citing his public comments criticizing the special counsel. 

Whitaker once declared there was “no collusion” between Trump and Moscow and said the special counsel’s investigation was a waste of time that could be undercut by denying it funding. 

During the interview, Blumenthal cited a statute that would indicate Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein should assume the top post. 

Before Whitaker’s appointment, Rosenstein had overseen the Mueller probe after Sessions recused himself.