--- title: Donald Trump Will Try to Fire Investigators, Senator Worries description: California Senator Dianne Feinstein raised concerns that President Trump will try to dismiss Robert Mueller and Rod Rosenstein canonical: https://time.com/4821882/dianne-feinstein-donald-trump-rod-rosenstein/ author: Catherine Trautwein article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-06-16T17:39:34.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T16:11:35.228Z article:section: Politics og:title: Dianne Feinstein 'Concerned' Donald Trump Will Try to Fire Investigators og:description: "We’re a nation of laws that apply equally to everyone, a lesson the president would be wise to learn" og:url: https://time.com/4821882/dianne-feinstein-donald-trump-rod-rosenstein/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2f9d11241e417f5d/698688a7810bbb8cd4c90d26/dianne-feinstein-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1333 og:image:height: 750 og:image:alt: Sen. Dianne Feinstein, chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, tells Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx to be cautious about the evolution of small, unmanned drone aircraft and the threat to Americans’ privacy, at a Senate Transportation subcommit og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Dianne Feinstein 'Concerned' Donald Trump Will Try to Fire Investigators twitter:description: "We’re a nation of laws that apply equally to everyone, a lesson the president would be wise to learn" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2f9d11241e417f5d/698688a7810bbb8cd4c90d26/dianne-feinstein-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Dianne Feinstein 'Increasingly Concerned' Donald Trump Will Try to Fire Investigators > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME D.C. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Catherine Trautwein](https://time.com/author/catherine-trautwein/) ## Catherine Trautwein Jun 16, 2017 5:39 PM UTC  Sen. Dianne Feinstein, chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, tells Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx to be cautious about the evolution of small, unmanned drone aircraft and the threat to Americans’ privacy, at a Senate Transportation subcommittee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 13, 2014. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, tells Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx to be cautious about the evolution of small, unmanned drone aircraft and the threat to Americans’ privacy, at a Senate Transportation subcommittee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 13, 2014. J. Scott Applewhite—AP by [Catherine Trautwein](https://time.com/author/catherine-trautwein/) ## Catherine Trautwein Jun 16, 2017 5:39 PM UTC California Senator [Dianne Feinstein](http://time.com/4782512/donald-trump-impeachment-bill-clinton-senators/) has raised concerns that [President Donald Trump](http://time.com/4821411/donald-trump-transition-russia/) will try to dismiss Rod Rosenstein and Robert Mueller, two officials involved in an ongoing probe into potential ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. “I’m growing increasingly concerned that the president will attempt to fire not only Robert Mueller, the special counsel investigating possible obstruction of justice, but also Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein who appointed Mueller,” the Democratic senator, who is also a member of the Senate Intelligence committee, said in a [statement](https://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=A365B3BF-9922-47BB-9633-515F1F702736). [Rosenstein](http://time.com/4773246/james-comey-fired-justice-department-hillary-clinton-email-rod-rosenstein/) authored a letter detailing why FBI director [James Comey](http://time.com/4811175/comey-testimony-donald-trump-highlights/) should be fired on May 9, and announced the selection of former FBI director [Mueller](http://time.com/4817758/donald-trump-russia-robert-mueller/) to serve as [special counsel](http://time.com/4783504/robert-mueller-russia-investigation-special-counsel-fbi/?iid=sr-link5) and head up the investigation into [possible collusion](http://time.com/4815826/chris-ruddy-donald-trump-robert-mueller-fire/) between the Trump campaign and Russia on May 17. President Trump seemed to confirm reports he was under investigation Friday with a tweet, saying he was facing scrutiny for firing James Comey by the man who urged him to dismiss the former FBI director. > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/875701471999864833) “The message the president is sending through his tweets is that he believes the rule of law doesn’t apply to him and that anyone who thinks otherwise will be fired,” Feinstein said in her statement. “That’s undemocratic on its face and a blatant violation of the president’s oath of office.” [Special counsel Mueller](http://time.com/4774442/robert-mueller-special-counsel-independent-prosecutor-donald-trump-russia/) can only be dismissed by [Rosenstein](http://time.com/4816190/donald-trump-robert-bob-mueller-russia-special-counsel/), Feinstein asserted in her statement, something he has testified under oath he would not do “without good cause.” “It’s becoming clear to me that the president has embarked on an effort to undermine anyone with the ability to bring any misdeeds to light, be that Congress, the media or the Justice Department,” she said. “We’re a nation of laws that apply equally to everyone, a lesson the president would be wise to learn.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4821882/dianne-feinstein-donald-trump-rod-rosenstein/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4821882/dianne-feinstein-donald-trump-rod-rosenstein/"},"headline":"Dianne Feinstein 'Increasingly Concerned' Donald Trump Will Try to Fire Investigators","datePublished":"2017-06-16T17:39:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T16:11:35.228Z","description":"California Senator Dianne Feinstein has issued a forceful statement","url":"https://time.com/4821882/dianne-feinstein-donald-trump-rod-rosenstein/","keywords":["Donald Trump","James Comey","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2f9d11241e417f5d/698688a7810bbb8cd4c90d26/dianne-feinstein-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Catherine Trautwein","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/catherine-trautwein/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2f9d11241e417f5d/698688a7810bbb8cd4c90d26/dianne-feinstein-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Sen. 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