We are a group of citizens united by our deep concern over threats to the integrity of American democracy and the rule of law. With the indictments announced on Monday, the investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller into Russian interference with the 2016 election is now entering a new and critical phase. At the same time, a growing chorus of Republican and conservative voices has started calling for Mueller’s resignation on trumped-up grounds, a move that may be calculated to help justify dismissal of the special counsel and pardons for his targets. In view of these events, we want to come forward and express our strong support for allowing the Mueller investigation to proceed without interference or obstruction. We would regard dismissal of the special counsel, or pardons issued preemptively to anyone targeted by his investigation, as a grave abuse of power that justifies initiation of impeachment proceedings.

We hereby call on House Speaker Ryan and Senate Majority Leader McConnell to make clear, both publicly and privately, that they support the Mueller investigation and regard any interference with that investigation, including dismissal of the special counsel or preemptive pardons of investigation targets, as completely unacceptable. We further urge all Republican members of Congress to issue public statements on these issues as well. It is morally imperative that the Republican Party and the conservative movement stand as bulwarks of the rule of law, not enablers of its erosion and violation. Now is the time for choosing.*

Jonathan Adler
Case Western Reserve University School of Law

Claire Berlinski
Manhattan Institute

Max Boot
Senior fellow, Council on Foreign Relations

Mona Charen
Senior fellow, Ethics and Public Policy Center

Linda Chavez
Syndicated columnist and former Reagan White House official

Eliot Cohen
Former Counselor, Department of State

Thomas Coleman
Former Member, U.S. House of Representatives (R-MO)

Joe Coon
Cofounder, Niskanen Center

Daniel Drezner
Professor, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University

Mickey Edwards
Former Member, U.S. House of Representatives (R-OK)
Former chairman of the House Republican Policy Committee
Founding trustee, Heritage Foundation
National chairman, American Conservative Union.  

Mindy Finn
Stand Up Republic

Jeffrey Gedmin
Senior fellow, Atlantic Council
Former president, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

David Gray
New America

Bob Inglis
Former Member, U.S. House of Representatives (R-SC)

David Jolly
Former Member, U.S. House of Representatives (R-FL)

James Kirchick
Visiting Fellow, Brookings Institution

Harvey Klehr
Andrew Mellon Professor Emeritus of History and Politics
Emory University

William Kristol
Senior aide in the Reagan and George H. W. Bush administrations

R. J. Lyman
Founding director, Unite the Center

Liz Mair
Former RNC spokeswoman and adviser to Carly Fiorina, former Gov. Rick Perry, Sen. Rand Paul, and Gov. Scott Walker

Evan McMullin
Stand Up Republic

Tom Nichols
Author and scholar

Ronald Radosh
Adjunct fellow, Hudson Institute

Gabriel Schoenfeld
Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute

Sol Stern
Author and journalist

Andrew Sullivan
Writer-at-large, New York magazine

Jerry Taylor
Cofounder and president, Niskanen Center

Benjamin Wittes
Senior fellow, Brookings Institution

John Ziegler
Columnist, Mediaite

Prominent conservatives who would like to be included as signatories can contact Niskanen Center vice president Brink Lindsey at blindsey@niskanencenter.org.

*All institutional affiliations are for identification purposes only