Biggs calls for Mueller to step away from Russia investigation
Ronald J. Hansen
U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs joined two other House Republicans in a resolution Friday calling for special counsel Robert Mueller to resign from the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
The resolution says Mueller should be disqualified from the probe because he headed the FBI during the time when the Obama administration approved a deal that let Russian business interests buy a Canadian-owned company that mined uranium in the U.S.
The move opens a new political front in Republicans' response to the unfolding investigation of possible collusion with Russian interests by the Trump campaign and potential obstruction of that probe by the president or his staff.
The resolution was introduced by Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., and co-sponsored by Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, and Biggs. The Arizona freshman continues to stake out a reputation as being among the most conservative members in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The Gaetz resolution comes days after Mueller's investigators announced a pair of indictments and a guilty plea that seems to indicate the probe is digging deeper into President Donald Trump's inner circle and possible collusion with Russians.
Biggs has been suggesting for a week that Mueller is unfit, as Trump and other conservatives have pushed the 2010 Uranium One deal as reason to investigate Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and others in her party.
House Republicans are already investigating the uranium deal, as well as how the Obama Justice Department examined Clinton's use of a private email server when she headed the State Department.
In a statement earlier this week, Biggs outlined his view that Mueller could not fairly oversee the Russia probe.
"Mueller’s investigation seems to be careening far beyond the scope or breadth of his original charge," Biggs said. "Unfortunately, taxpayer resources are being used to investigate anyone and anything that fits into a preconceived notion that Russia colluded with the Trump Administration to ‘fix the election.’ Americans should be concerned with Mr. Mueller’s unlimited reach."
The resolution claims that in 2009 "the FBI discovered that Russian officials were engaging in bribery and extortion, tainting the American uranium industry" but the agency — then headed by Mueller — brought no charges. Instead, the deal was approved by the State Department under Clinton, the resolution says.
The deal involved the approval of nine federal agencies and didn't hinge on Clinton's approval, multiple media fact-checkers have found.
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