Sen. Thom Tillis on Sunday defended a bill to protect special counsel Robert Mueller amid his Russia probe, saying it would re-establish "the public trust in the Department of Justice."
In an interview on ABC News' "This Week," the North Carolina Republican said if Mueller were axed it would be another example of the deparment taking severe hit to its reputation.
Tillis and Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) have introduced a bill to let any special counsel challenge their firing in court; it would be retroactive to the date Mueller was named special counsel for the investigation into Russia's election interference.
"This is very important," he said. "It's an important part of what we need to do to reestablish the public trust in the Department of Justice."
"This is something that lives beyond the special counse," he said, adding:
"I'm working very hard and I know Senator Coons is too to re-establish the integrity of this department which is critically important to restore the confidence of the American people."
Tillis also said he believes the probe has become a "distraction" to President Donald Trump's agenda that "I would like to get past" — and that he does not believe Trump is "heading in that direction" to fire Mueller.
"Our effort is to take that off the table, any sort of precipitous removal but we don't have any specific evidence to suggest that the president is going to do that," he said. "This is policy that lives beyond this administration…"