Justice official most likely to tell Mueller ‘You’re fired’ is a Fil-Am

Noel J. Francisco being sworn in to testify before the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary on his nomination to be Solicitor General of the US on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on Wednesday, May 10, 2017. AP/Ron Sachs

WASHINGTON – The man most likely to be asked to fire special counsel Robert Mueller is a Filipino American – U.S. Solicitor General Noel Francisco, a low-key conservative with a distinguished legal career.

Francisco is the fourth-ranking in the Justice Department. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has recused himself from the Russia investigation. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who’s in charge of the investigation presumably would not fire Mueller, as he was the one who appointed the special counsel at the beginning of the investigation. The third in line, Associate Attorney General Jesse Panuccio, is only in an acting role.

That leaves Francisco as the second-ranking figure who would have the authority to carry out an order from Trump to fire Mueller, according to a Rassd News Network report via WMBF News. https://www.wmbfnews.com/story/37927563/who-is-noel-francisco-the-man-who-could-be-asked-to-fire-mueller

Francisco is the son of a Filipino immigrant father and American mother. He was brought up in Oswego, New York. He was nominated by Trump in March 2017 and confirmed by the Senate in September on a narrow 50-47 vote.

In the past, Francisco has expressed skepticism over the need for special counsels. He called the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, for whom he clerked, as his “dear mentor” during his Senate confirmation.

He also said he believes “what makes this country great is that we have a government that is bound by the Constitution and, just as importantly, a separation of powers that is enabled to enforce that.”