Schumer says new AG must protect Mueller probe

WASHINGTON (AP) – Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer says it is “paramount” that the investigation of special counsel Robert Mueller be protected by President Donald Trump’s new attorney general.

Trump forced Jeff Sessions out as attorney general on Wednesday after the midterm elections. The president said Sessions’ chief of staff, Matt Whitaker, would replace him for now, with a permanent replacement coming later.

Schumer says he finds the timing of Sessions’ departure “very suspect.” He says it would spark a “constitutional crisis” if Trump forced out Sessions as a “prelude” to ending or limiting Mueller’s investigation.

Trump and Sessions had a falling out after the attorney general recused himself from Mueller’s investigation. The president has repeatedly belittled Sessions in public and expressed regret about appointing him.