President Donald Trump’s personal defense lawyer, John Dowd, told The Daily Beast on Saturday that he is praying for an end to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.
Dowd, confirming he was speaking on behalf of President Trump, hoped that the controversial firing of Andrew McCabe was only the beginning. Without outright calling for Mueller to be fired, the president’s attorney clearly made his hopes known for “an end” to the investigation.
“I pray that Acting Attorney General Rosenstein will follow the brilliant and courageous example of the FBI Office of Professional Responsibility and Attorney General Jeff Sessions and bring an end to alleged Russia Collusion investigation manufactured by McCabe’s boss James Comey based upon a fraudulent and corrupt Dossier,” Dowd said.
Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein is in charge of the investigation after AG Jeff Sessions was required to recuse himself.
President Trump also celebrated McCabe’s firing.
CNN is now reporting that Dowd has partially walked by his statement, claiming that he was not speaking for Trump, but was only speaking in a personal capacity.
Speaking with MSNBC’s Joy Reid, Beast reporter Betsy Woodruff called the distinction between “firing” and shutting down the investigation “hairsplitting” based on her conversation with Dowd.