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As Mueller comes under fire from Trump, two Pa. Republicans defend him

Reps. Meehan and Fitzpatrick each spent years building federal corruption cases, and praised the integrity of the special counsel even as he came under intense criticism from President Trump and his allies.

U.S. Rep. Pat Meehan of Delaware County seen here in 2010. (Sharon Gekoski-Kimmel / Staff Photographer)
U.S. Rep. Pat Meehan of Delaware County seen here in 2010. (Sharon Gekoski-Kimmel / Staff Photographer)Read moreSharon Gekoski-Kimmel

WASHINGTON — Don't doubt Robert Mueller.

That message came this week from two Republican congressmen from the Philadelphia suburbs who each spent years building federal corruption cases, and who praised the integrity of the special counsel even as he came under intense criticism from President Trump and his allies.

"Bob Mueller is not biased, nor is Jim Comey," said Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, a former FBI agent from Bucks County who worked at the agency during each of their tenures as director. "They're good men and they're professionals and they're going to do their job."

Rep. Pat Meehan, a former U.S. attorney in Philadelphia who worked with Mueller on a task force looking into corporate fraud and on federal investigations, said the special prosecutor did not arrive with any predisposition to the investigation — despite the president's attacks.

"I know Bob Mueller personally," said Meehan, of Delaware County. "He has impeccable integrity."

Each spoke in interviews as the Trump-Russia investigation reached closer to the president this week and as Mueller was assailed by Trump and his allies, who have sharply questioned his fairness. News reports revealed that Trump is being investigated for potential obstruction and that Mueller's team is examining business dealings of the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

Trump appeared to confirm that he is under investigation with a tweet Friday morning, while dismissing it as a "Witch Hunt."

In interviews, Fitzpatrick and Meehan laid out the complex calculations that go into an obstruction case.

"As with anything in the law, when you're talking about criminal matters, there's act and intent," Meehan said. Even actions that may look like obstruction, he said, "in and of themselves may not be determinative apart from specific intent to commit the act."

It's even more complicated, he said, when talking about a president, who through his authority as chief executive "has the ability to do things that others do not."

"His acts and purposes would have to be considered within that context," Meehan said. "He has to know of the proceeding, and then pretty much deliberately attempt to interfere with that proceeding, and those are all pretty big steps."

He and Fitzpatrick said that they trust Mueller to find the facts and lay them out — but that they would have to wait for the full picture before drawing any conclusions.

"From my time as a prosecutor," Meehan said, "I have learned it's foolish to be making comments on partial information."

Fitzpatrick warned that the view from inside an investigation is often at odds with what's known publicly.

"As an investigator, we always took note, as those of us who knew the facts, what was getting reported and what people were talking about and there was always a gap — sometimes a very significant gap," he said. "They're going to be conducting interviews, they're going to be subpoenaing bank records, they're going to do what investigators do, and they're going to find the facts. It's really not at this point appropriate for anyone in Congress to be commenting because it's a criminal investigation. We're not privy to those facts."

Trump this week assailed the investigation as being "led by some very bad and conflicted people!"

An ally, Newt Gingrich, called Mueller "the tip of the deep state spear aimed at destroying or at a minimum undermining and crippling the Trump presidency."

Trump says there is no proof of collusion, though the investigation continues.

Meehan predicted that Mueller would build a tight-lipped circle of investigators around him as the probe continues, and avoid any kind of public comment or response to public critiques.

"You speak with your indictments," Meehan said.

He recounted how during his investigation into the murder of Aimee Willard, a soccer star, speculation landed on several people as suspects — none of them accurately.

"People were rushing to find a conclusion before the investigators did," he said. "And nobody knew the information that we had."

He said he doubted that Trump would fire Mueller. If the president did so, Meehan said, it could cause a reaction in Congress that might push lawmakers to simply re-appoint him as special counsel.