The Daily 202: Trump’s increasingly confrontational approach to Mueller enabled by congressional GOP timidity
Trump’s increasingly confrontational approach to Mueller enabled by congressional GOP timidity Trump's lawyer calls for end to special counsel probe BY JAMES HOHMANN with Breanne Deppisch and Joanie Greve THE BIG IDEA: Republican congressional leaders have no appetite for a showdown with Donald Trump over legislation to protect Robert Mueller, even as the president has begun attacking the special counsel by name and hired a new lawyer who publicly alleges a vast FBI conspiracy to bring him down. While GOP leaders say Mueller should be allowed to do his work, their relative acquiescence both enables and emboldens Trump’s defiance. The president will likely continue to test the limits and push the boundaries to see what he can get away with. That’s how he’s always operated. The lack of urgency to do anything to protect Mueller reflects a recognition on Capitol Hill that Republican fortunes are now inextricably linked to the president in 2018, for bet...