Efforts by GOP Sen. Jeff Flake and Democratic Sens. Chris Coons and Cory Booker to force a full vote on a bill designed to protect special counsel Robert Mueller was blocked Wednesday.
Utah's Republican Sen. Mike Lee objected to the attempt to bring the bill forward, arguing that passing the legislation would be "fundamentally undermining the principle of separation of powers that is so core to our liberty." Senate rules dictate that so-called unanimous consent requests be rejected if even one senator objects.
The bipartisan bill has received some support from Republicans. Flake, who is leaving his Arizona Senate seat at the end of his term, has become one of Trump's loudest critics and has also emerged as one of the Senate's staunchest defenders of Mueller's ongoing investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and potential coordination between Russia and Trump campaign-related figures.
Trump has repeatedly said there was no collusion between his campaign and the Kremlin, and has tried to discredit the probe, calling it a "witch hunt."
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