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Democrats worry Trump will fire Mueller

Photo: Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP

Democrats are increasingly worried that President Trump will interfere in Special Counsel Bob Mueller's Russia probe — which Trump has called a "witch hunt" — and they're sounding the alarm after the first set of indictments were issued.

A Democratic aide told me, in light of Trump's decision to fire James Comey, it's conceivable Trump will take the same steps with Mueller. "Anything is possible with this president," the aide added.

Sen. Chuck Schumer: "These reported indictments show that the special counsel's probe is ongoing in a very serious way. The rule of law is paramount in America and the investigation must be allowed to proceed unimpeded. The President must not, under any circumstances, interfere with the special counsel's work in any way. If he does so, Congress must respond swiftly, unequivocally, and in a bipartisan way to ensure that the investigation continues."

Sen. Bernie Sanders: "President Trump must not, in any way, try to derail or obstruct this effort. ... Russia's interference in our recent election and their attack on American democracy is an issue of enormous consequence."

Sen. Mark Warner: "That is why it is imperative that Congress take action now to protect the independence of the Special Counsel, wherever or however high his investigation may lead. Members of Congress, Republican and Democrat, must also make clear to the President that issuing pardons to any of his associates or to himself would be unacceptable, and result in immediate, bipartisan action by Congress."

Be smart: Things looked bad for Trump after he suddenly fired Comey; they'd likely look even worse if he fired Mueller. And Axios reported on the previous leaks about Trump mulling over the idea of firing Mueller after it was revealed that his probe was focusing on the president's actions.

Self-driving lab head urges freeze after "nightmare" fatality

Uber self-driving car in Pittsburgh. Photo: Jeff Swensen / Getty

Carmakers and technology companies should freeze their race to field autonomous vehicles because "clearly the technology is not where it needs to be," said Raj Rajkumar, head of Carnegie Mellon University's leading self-driving laboratory.

What he said: Speaking a few hours after a self-driven vehicle ran over and killed a pedestrian in Arizona, Rajkumar said, "This isn't like a bug with your phone. People can get killed. Companies need to take a deep breath. The technology is not there yet. We need to keep people in the loop."

Why it matters: Virtually every major car company on theplanet, in addition to numerous startups and tech companies, are doing live testing of self-driving vehicles — and pushing policy officials to allow them to do so.

But Rajkumar said that ordinary people in addition to automakers and tech companies have developed far too much trust in self-driving technology simply because the cars have driven hundreds of thousands of miles with only one fatality before this — a Tesla driver who slammed into the side of a truck last year.

Quote "This is the nightmare all of us working in this domain always worried about."

Report: Facebook information security head Alex Stamos is leaving

Alex Stamos. Photo: Sportsfile/Corbis via Getty Images

Alex Stamos, Facebook's chief information security officer, is reportedly leaving the company after clashing with colleagues on how to handle disclosure of the spread of disinformation on the social network, according to the New York Times.

Why it matters: Stamos had posted and then deleted several tweets over the weekend discussing the Cambridge Analytica matter, taking issue with the notion that the incidents represented a "breach" in the traditional sense of the term and noting that apps now don't have as much access to customer data as they did several years ago. He would be the first executive to leave since the latest scandal broke.

Go deeper: Stamos had already been planning to leave, according to the Times, which said he originally was going to exit after many of his duties were reassigned in December, but was persuaded to stay on through August.