(Bloomberg) -- Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley said Thursday he retains confidence in Special Counsel Robert Mueller even after learning that members of his team probing allegations of collusion between Donald Trump's campaign and Russia exchanged text messages critical of the president.
"I've got some advice for Mueller, but I've still got confidence in the work he's doing, because I know him as an individual," Grassley told reporters Thursday. "But he could help himself a lot by being more transparent."
The Iowa Republican said Mueller demoted people on his team months ago -- because of the text messages -- "but it's just now coming out."
"When you have conflict of interest, there's going to be less embarrassment if you tell people right away, and there's no reason for his investigation to be questioned except by the secrecy he maintains," Grassley said.
Grassley said he doesn't expect Mueller to be public about what he's investigating, but said personnel problems on his investigation have created unnecessary trouble "for a guy that has great prestige and integrity in this town."
To contact the reporter on this story: Steven T. Dennis in Washington at sdennis17@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Kevin Whitelaw at kwhitelaw@bloomberg.net, Justin Blum, Laurie Asséo
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