Donald Trump can’t fire Robert Mueller himself. He can order the acting Attorney General, Rod Rosenstein to do it but Rosenstein put a lot on the line when he vouched for Mueller by citing his integrity and the integrity of Andrew McCabe in describing why he chose Mueller for the role of special counsel.

That hasn’t stopped the rumor mill from churning after having learned that Robert Mueller committed the worst possible sin in the world and hired lawyers that donated to Democrats as if that’s never happened before. It’s what threw Newt Gingrich into his little snit with Mueller going from a man of high integrity to a partisan hack in less than a month.

Chris Ruddy, CEO of Newsmax, is floating the rumor that Donald Trump may be considering firing Mueller:

A close friend of President Trump said on Monday that the President is considering firing Robert Mueller, the special counsel who is leading the federal investigation into alleged ties between the Trump campaign and Russia.

Chris Ruddy, CEO of Newsmax Media and a longtime Trump friend, told PBS’s Judy Woodruff that Trump is weighing whether to fire Mueller.

“I think he’s considering perhaps terminating the special counsel. I think he’s weighing that option,” Ruddy said on PBS NewsHour.

There is one problem with relying on Ruddy’s word in this matter. He’s the one who suggested back in February that Reince Priebus was in hot water:

An ally to President Trump said the White House chief of staff is “in way over his head” and should be dumped.

Christopher Ruddy, CEO of Newsmax Media and a member of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, said Sunday that Reince Priebus is the “problem.”

“I think there’s a lot of weakness coming out of chief of staff,” Ruddy told CNN’s “Reliable Sources.” “I think Reince Priebus [is a] good guy, well-intentioned, but he clearly doesn’t know how the federal agencies work.”

Do I put it past Trump to can Mueller if enough people convince him of the “witch hunt” theory? Not at all.

Still, the only word we have now is one from Chris Ruddy and the White House said he doesn’t speak for them.