President Donald Trump said late Sunday night that he is not considering firing special counsel Robert Mueller.
A reporter asked Trump as he returned to the White House from Camp David if he was considering firing Mueller, CNN reported.
"No, I’m not," Trump said.
He nevertheless reiterated a complaint from lawyers representing this transition team, saying people are "very upset" about Mueller’s decision to obtain tens of thousands of Trump transition team emails. The president added that he's not worried because "there's no collusion."
"I can’t imagine there's anything on [the emails], frankly, because as we said, there’s no collusion. No collision whatsoever," Trump said. "But a lot of lawyers thought that was pretty sad."
Lawyers representing the Trump transition team claim Mueller obtained unauthorized access to the emails during the ongoing investigation into Russia's involvement in the 2016 presidential elections. The lawyers argue some of the emails obtained are protected by attorney-client privilege.
However, Mueller spokesperson Peter Carr denied any email access was unauthorized.
"When we have obtained emails in the course of our ongoing criminal investigation, we have secured either the account owner’s consent or appropriate criminal process," Carr said earlier on Sunday.
Mueller's office has faced increased scrutiny in recent weeks following reports of potential political bias within the special counsel's team.
Many Democrats are therefore concerned Trump and Republicans are attempting to push Mueller out from the investigation. Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff (Calif.) tweeted on Friday about his concerns.
"I’m increasingly worried Republicans will shut down the House Intelligence Committee Investigation at the end of the month," the ranking Democrat on the committee posted.
I’m increasingly worried Republicans will shut down the House Intelligence Committee investigation at the end of the month.
Here’s why:
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) December 15, 2017
Trump, his lawyers, his cabinet, and the White House staff all claim Mueller is not on the chopping block.