During the White House press briefing Tuesday, reporters asked press secretary Sarah Sanders if President Donald Trump thinks he has the power to fire special counsel Robert Mueller.
"He certainly believes he has the power to do so," Sanders said of the president.
"It's Rod Rosenstein oversees the special counsel, and only he has the power to fire the special counsel," a reporter said.
"Again, we've been advised that the president certainly has the power to make that decision," Sanders responded. "I can’t go anything beyond that."
It's true that only Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein can fire Mueller. Trump can, however, fire Rosenstein.
"What about Rod Rosenstein?" Fox News' John Roberts asked. "What's the president's thinking about Rosenstein, in terms of his tenure at the Department of Justice? He did not appear to be very happy with him last night."
"Certainly the president has voiced his frustrations, but beyond that, I don’t have anything else," Sanders said.
So would the president actually move to get Mueller fired?
"The president was asked this question directly last night, and I'd refer you back to his comments," Sanders said Tuesday.
Those comments she's talking about? Take a listen.
"Why don't I just fire Mueller?" President Trump said. "Well, I think it's a disgrace what's going on. We'll see what happens. But I think it's really a sad situation when you look at what happened there. Many people have said, 'You should fire him.' Again, they found nothing."
Additional reporting from Newsy affiliate CNN.
