President Donald Trump on Monday shrugged off accounts that several of his staffers refused to comply with the president’s directives, as stated in special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russian interference in the 2016 election.
During the annual White House Easter Egg Roll, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins asked the president if he’s worried his aides are ignoring his orders.
“Nobody disobeys my orders,” Trump replied.
But the Mueller report, a redacted version of which was released to the public on Thursday, said at least 11 people in Trump’s orbit disobeyed him.
Though Mueller ultimately concluded it was not his role to determine whether Trump broke the law, his report laid out 10 areas of potential obstruction of justice by the president.
In most cases, the only reason Trump didn’t obstruct justice was because his aides refused to carry out what they perceived as illegal orders, the Mueller report suggests.
Several Trump administration staffers, including Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, ignored the president’s seemingly unethical and possibly criminal directives.
In one case, then-White House Counsel Don McGahn told the special counsel’s office that Trump had repeatedly asked him to pass on a request to fire Mueller in the spring of 2017. The president’s requests prompted McGahn to threaten to resign.
Since the public release of Mueller’s highly anticipated report, Democrats have hinted that impeachment is on the table.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful, called on House Democrats to initiate impeachment proceedings in the wake of Mueller’s investigation.
“To ignore a President’s repeated efforts to obstruct an investigation into his own disloyal behavior would inflict great and lasting damage on this country,” Warren tweeted. “The severity of this misconduct demands that elected officials in both parties set aside political considerations and do their constitutional duty.”
Still, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has drawn ire from some members of her own party by repeatedly stating she would not pursue impeachment unless there was overwhelming support from both sides of the aisle.
Asked Monday if he’s worried about impeachment, Trump told reporters, “Not even a little bit.”