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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums538 Trump Will Have A Hard Time Stopping The Russia Investigation Even If He Fires Mueller
By Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux
Filed under Russia Investigation
Published Dec. 11, 2017
In the nearly seven months since Robert Mueller was appointed to investigate possible collusion between the Donald Trump campaign and Russia, he has already obtained two indictments and two guilty pleas. Paul Manafort and Rick Gates, the indictees, are back in court Monday, when their trial date could be set, and more charges could well be coming for other people in Trumps orbit. But even as the investigation gathers steam or perhaps because of it there are increasing concerns about just how long Mueller will be able to keep his job.
The prosecutor serves under the authority of the deputy attorney general and could be asked to leave at any time.1 And external opposition could help grease the wheels for his departure. A growing drumbeat to this effect seems to be building on the right. Earlier this month, The Wall Street Journals editorial board wrote for the second time that Mueller is too conflicted to run the investigation and called on him to step down in favor of someone more credible. Fox News host Sean Hannity recently condemned Muellers investigators as an extremely biased team of liberal crusaders, and Newt Gingrich, who called Mueller a superb choice to run the investigation when he was appointed in May, is now attacking him as corrupt.
Then theres the possibility that the president could simply lose patience with Mueller and order Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to fire him. Mueller reportedly subpoenaed information this fall on accounts held by the Trump family at Deutsche Bank after Trump implied earlier this year that investigating his finances could spur him to consider dismissing Mueller.2
Democrats, for their part, have been arguing for months that Congress needs to act to pass additional protections for Mueller. But our review of the history of special prosecutor investigations suggests that Muellers investigation is more secure than it might seem and that more protections dont necessarily produce more effective prosecutions.
Link: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/trump-will-have-a-hard-time-stopping-the-russia-investigation-even-if-he-fires-mueller/
genxlib
(5,528 posts)There is his first mistake.
None of this follows any historical standards. All of it is new territory.
Seeking to understand how it will play out by looking at history is a grave mistake.