Key Republican Senator joins Dems trying to protect Mueller from Trump

After months of warning President Trump about what would happen if he fired special counsel Robert Mueller, Democrats will get a chance to vote on the bill next week because a key Republican Senator agrees with them.

Here's the Republican who wants to protect Mueller

Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) agreed with Democrat Senator Dianne Feinstein (Calif.), both on the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee, that they should take up a measure to protect the special counsel from being fired by the president.

The Washington Post reported that the bill would require the president to notify Congress ahead of any decision to fire a special counsel. The committee is scheduled to vote on the measure next week.

President Trump has been very vocal in his criticism of the special counsel and the investigation, which he has dubbed a "witch hunt."

"The Mueller probe should never have been started in that there was no collusion and there was no crime," he tweeted in March.

"It was based on fraudulent activities and a Fake Dossier paid for by Crooked Hillary and the DNC, and improperly used in FISA COURT for surveillance of my campaign," he added. "WITCH HUNT!"

The Mueller probe should never have been started in that there was no collusion and there was no crime. It was based on fraudulent activities and a Fake Dossier paid for by Crooked Hillary and the DNC, and improperly used in FISA COURT for surveillance of my campaign. WITCH HUNT!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)

March 18, 2018

"Why does the Mueller team have 13 hardened Democrats, some big Crooked Hillary supporters, and Zero Republicans?" the president tweeted the next day. "Another Dem recently added...does anyone think this is fair?"

It would be suicide to fire Mueller

Grassley had signaled his displeasure with reports that Trump was mulling over firing Mueller on Tuesday when he said it would be like committing suicide for the president to do so.

“I think it would be suicide for the president to fire him (Mueller)," Grassley said. "I think the less the President says about this whole thing, the better off he will be. And I think Mueller is a person of stature and respected and I respect him.”