GOP/ROBERT MUELLER/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Thom Tillis isn’t the kind of Republican who typically challenges Donald Trump. The North Carolina senator backs the president’s agenda and holds his tongue when it comes to the tweets. As others abandoned Trump after the ‘Access Hollywood’ tape emerged, Tillis stood by his endorsement. But now, he’s a lead sponsor of a bill to protect special counsel Robert Mueller from interference by Trump — enraging conservatives and potentially risking the president’s ire. It’s the biggest gamble Tillis has taken as a Republican senator, but one he believes is philosophically consistent with how the GOP would approach the situation if the president were a Democrat. Tillis doesn’t think Trump will ultimately fire Mueller even as the president rages over the expanding Russia probe. But he has an impassioned response for his conservative critics nonetheless: ‘Spare me.'”
-Burgess Everett, “‘Spare me’: Tillis draws GOP fire with pro-Mueller push,” Politico, April 16, 2018 5:02 am