Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., said there was a "rumor" in Washington, D.C., that President Donald Trump may be planning to fire special counsel Robert Mueller before Christmas, The Hill reported Saturday.
"The rumor on the Hill when I left yesterday was that the president was going to make a significant speech at the end of next week. And on Dec. 22, when we are out of D.C., he was going to fire Robert Mueller," Speier told California's KQED News on Friday.
If that were to happen, Speier predicted it would result in a constitutional crisis, calling it "Saturday massacre 2.0" that would "without a doubt" cause an "impeachment effort."
Speier is a member of the House Intelligence Committee and claimed the president was trying to shut down the committee's investigation into claims of collusion between his 2016 presidential campaign and Russia. She pointed to the fact the committee had no interviews scheduled in 2018.
"We can read between the lines I think," Speier said. "I believe this president wants all of this shut down. He wants to shut down these investigations, and he wants to fire special counsel Mueller."
Rep. Adam Schiff of California, the ranking Democrat on the committee, shared Speier's contention.
"Republicans have scheduled no witnesses after next Friday and none in 2017 [sic]. We have dozens of outstanding witnesses on key aspects of our investigation that they refuse to contact and many document requests they continue to sit on," he tweeted Friday.
"By shutting down the congressional investigations when they continue to discover new and important evidence, the White House can exert tremendous pressure to end or curtail Mueller's investigation or cast doubt on it. We cannot let that happen," he added.
CNN reported late Saturday afternoon that White House attorney Ty Cobb said there are no plans for firing Mueller.
Rumors about the possibility of Trump firing Mueller have made headlines since last May when he was first appointed as special counsel to the probe.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders addressed the issue in October when she commented there was "no intention or plan to make any changes in regards to the special counsel."