Congress might not be able to protect Mueller from firing
McClatchy DC | McClatchyDC.com
Congress might not be able to protect Mueller from firing
By Brian Murphy
September 26, 2017 5:15 PM
WASHINGTON
Congress may be unable to provide any additional job protection for special counsel Robert Mueller, whose investigation into Russian meddling into the 2016 election and possible collusion or obstruction of justice continues to frustrate President Donald Trump.
A bill sponsored by North Carolina Republican Thom Tillis and Delaware Democrat Chris Coons would allow a fired special counsel to have his dismissal reviewed by a three-judge panel within14 days of the firing. A bill sponsored by Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Cory Booker, D-N.J., would require the Justice Department to clear the firing of a special counsel with a panel of judges before it could take place.
But at a Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, constitutional scholars gave senators competing conclusions on the constitutionality of these bills designed to protect Mueller from an improper firing by Trump or someone in the Justice Department.
The bills in their current form are unwise and unconstitutional, said Akhil Reed Amar, a constitutional law professor at Yale Law School and a Democrat who publicly opposed Trump in the election.
John Duffy, a law professor at the University of Virginia, argued that parts of both bills were legally questionable, but they could be tweaked to help pass judicial reviews. He, however, declined to offer an opinion on how the Supreme Court might view them.
With such judicial variability, I have to balk, Duffy said.
Said Eric Posner, a law professor at the University of Chicago: Ive concluded they do not violate the principle of the separation of powers and on the contrary advance important constitutional values.
The complex legal issues and the various answers to their questions seemed to give senators pause about the direction moving forward.
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