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A Special Prosecutor is a difficult person to fire. If Trump manages to fire Mueller, it won't stop the proceedings; Congress will just appoint another special prosecutor, and the second will be immune from firing once appointed.
When Nixon wanted his Attorney General Elliott Richardson to fire SP Cox, after Cox said he would subpeona Nixon, Richardson resigned rather than face the censure that would follow.
So Nixon had to find another AG suddenly. He chose Deputy Attorney General Ruckelshaus, demanded he fire Cox, and Ruckelshaus also resigned. Wm. Ruckelshaus held the job about 48 hours before he quit.
So then Nixon appointed Robert Bork to the office, and Bork did fire Cox, but lost a seat on the Supreme Court later on as a consequence, after taking a terrible beating in the confirmation hearings that left him with a ruined reputation.
And the firing of Archibald Cox made Congress and the public so mad that Cox's replacement, Special Prosecutor Leon Jaworski, immune to the possibility of being fired. Jaworski was freed to lead the investigation into places where Cox never tried to uncover.
Nixon lost a lawyer who was favorable to him when he fired Cox, and got a lawyer who was hostile toward him as a result. Once Cox was fired, Nixon suddenly started looking guilty to all his former voters and supporters.
And remember Nixon won 1972 in a landslide. If he had left Cox alone, his popularity could have made a Cox investigation come to nothing much.
Trump did not win by such a landslide. He's on much shakier ground right now than Richard Nixon was.
There have been other special prosecutors who followed Watergate. None of them ever faced being fired as a result of Nixon's folly.
The lesson is: No President messes with Congress like that and gets away with it.
President Trump can fire Mueller no question about it. If Mueller gets to far off the rails he should fire him too.
If Mueller does his job which is to go after anyone who commits a crime he uncovers during his investigation then he has to go after Comey and AG Lynch. If he doesn't, the fix is in and President Trump should fire him without regard to what the republicans in congress think, or anyone else for that matter.
A Special Prosecutor is a difficult person to fire. If Trump manages to fire Mueller, it won't stop the proceedings; Congress will just appoint another special prosecutor, and the second will be immune from firing once appointed.
When Nixon wanted his Attorney General Elliott Richardson to fire SP Cox, after Cox said he would subpeona Nixon, Richardson resigned rather than face the censure that would follow.
So Nixon had to find another AG suddenly. He chose Deputy Attorney General Ruckelshaus, demanded he fire Cox, and Ruckelshaus also resigned. Wm. Ruckelshaus held the job about 48 hours before he quit.
So then Nixon appointed Robert Bork to the office, and Bork did fire Cox, but lost a seat on the Supreme Court later on as a consequence, after taking a terrible beating in the confirmation hearings that left him with a ruined reputation.
And the firing of Archibald Cox made Congress and the public so mad that Cox's replacement, Special Prosecutor Leon Jaworski, immune to the possibility of being fired. Jaworski was freed to lead the investigation into places where Cox never tried to uncover.
Nixon lost a lawyer who was favorable to him when he fired Cox, and got a lawyer who was hostile toward him as a result. Once Cox was fired, Nixon suddenly started looking guilty to all his former voters and supporters.
And remember Nixon won 1972 in a landslide. If he had left Cox alone, his popularity could have made a Cox investigation come to nothing much.
Trump did not win by such a landslide. He's on much shakier ground right now than Richard Nixon was.
There have been other special prosecutors who followed Watergate. None of them ever faced being fired as a result of Nixon's folly.
The lesson is: No President messes with Congress like that and gets away with it.
Wasn't Mueller appointed under the current statute? What power would Congress have to appoint a prosecutor different from the current law?
The power of appointment currently rests with the DOJ. Clearly Trump could do what Nixon did. Eventually he could find someone to get rid of the prosecutor.
Wasn't Mueller appointed under the current statute? What power would Congress have to appoint a prosecutor different from the current law?
The power of appointment currently rests with the DOJ. Clearly Trump could do what Nixon did. Eventually he could find someone to get rid of the prosecutor.
The point is that firing Cox cost Nixon 2 AGs that quit rather than do something inappropriate and made it worse for Nixon as it appeared at the time he did not want certain information to come to light.
Mueller also has experts from the financial crimes division to 'follow the money.' That may be Trump's biggest problem (or Jared's), and Trump cannot claim the money trail is a lie--the guy won't even release tax returns, which will probably be subpoenaed anyhow at some point.
Trump has played fast and loose with the law and shady characters regarding his financial and business dealings, against the advice of his accountants and attorneys. This may come back to bite him in the butt.
Sadly I have repped you too recently, because this may be the thing that is causing the recent freakout. Mueller hired some people who specialize in this, and as I have said before, this is the sort of thing almost every big businessperson has committed some sort of crime in. Even unintentional, but far more common intentionally.
But why have some Republicans gotten worried looks lately? Why are they freaking out over Trumps problem?
Simply put because Muellers mandate allows him to really dig deep into wherever this leads him, and that could include some of them. I expect some Democrats to freak out as well eventually.
The point is that firing Cox cost Nixon 2 AGs that quit rather than do something inappropriate and made it worse for Nixon as it appeared at the time he did not want certain information to come to light.
OK, but assuming Trump wants to have Mueller fired then we are in the same situation as with Nixon and there is nothing that Congress can do about it short of beginning impeachment hearings.
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Hold it right there...
