General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsBigDemVoter
(4,150 posts)unblock
(52,243 posts)and if need be, keep firing ag's until he finds one who will do his bidding.
this is exactly what nixon did in the "saturday night massacre". it did not go over well.
forgotmylogin
(7,529 posts)I believe two subsequent Nixon AGs actually resigned rather than carry out his order.
unblock
(52,243 posts)not much difference between refusing to do something like that and getting fired vs. resigning.
given that nixon had to reach to a third person (remember our old friend bork? yes, that bork!) it's clear jobs were ending one way or another until nixon got rid of the special prosecutor.
elleng
(130,926 posts)but guy who wrote the 'regs' for the law (Katyal) said he can.
Mme. Defarge
(8,033 posts)kentuck
(111,098 posts)Yes, and there is no guarantee that Mitch McConnell and the Repubs will do what is right.
Hayduke Bomgarte
(1,965 posts)There is a near guarantee they'll do what is wrong.
Egnever
(21,506 posts)congress would lose it's mind though if it happened. Mueller is well respected on both sides of the isle.
brush
(53,782 posts)Hopefully Rosenstein would have the principles to refuse, and maybe the next guy after that would also, as happened with Watergate.
Then even the most reluctant repugs would know trump would have to go, as what happened with Nixon.
The_Casual_Observer
(27,742 posts)They know it, this the polite tweet earlier
flyingfysh
(1,990 posts)Look at what happened
Renew Deal
(81,860 posts)But who knows. I think it would be over for him if he did.
elleng
(130,926 posts)dalton99a
(81,513 posts)Naming Robert Mueller as special counsel isn't enough because Trump can get rid of him
By Erwin Chemerinsky and Eric M. Freedman
There is now credible evidence that President Trump pressed then-FBI Director James B. Comey to end the investigation of Michael Flynn, the administrations first national security advisor. If true, Trump could be guilty of obstruction of justice. But there is no mechanism in place to ensure a truly independent inquiry of this or other possibly illegal actions by high-level Trump officials.
Congress should therefore renew the independent counsel statute providing for the appointment of a special prosecutor, one who cannot be fired by the president or the attorney general.
On Wednesday, Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod Rosenstein announced he was appointing former FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III as special prosecutor to take over the Justice Department investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Without the protection of the independent counsel law, however, Trump can order Rosenstein to fire Mueller, and fire Rosenstein if he refuses.
yardwork
(61,622 posts)It looks like the Republicans cooked up this scheme for Sessions to hire Mueller in order to take the pressure off.
It's not enough.
reflection
(6,286 posts)That's what CNN was reporting last night. They didn't want him interfering or giving advance notice so Agent Orange could fire Rosenstein before the order was signed.
yardwork
(61,622 posts)If it's true, it means that Republicans in charge of Congress distrust the Attorney General (a Republican who was until very recently a U.S. senator) so much, they hid plans for a special counsel from him. The Attorney General of the U.S. was not allowed to know that a special counsel was being appointed by his office because his own party feared that he would interfere in a criminal investigation.
And that's the official story? Ok.....
chillfactor
(7,576 posts)the orange one can only direct the acting ag to fire Mueller....if the ag refuses the orange one can fire him....the whole thing would blow up in the orange one's face but he is too damn stupid to know that.
Hekate
(90,704 posts)That's what
onecaliberal
(32,861 posts)burrowowl
(17,641 posts)Iggo
(47,558 posts)onecaliberal
(32,861 posts)uponit7771
(90,344 posts)denbot
(9,899 posts)The Donald will try or say something spectacularly stupid as Mueller closes in. Then he fires Mueller.
no_hypocrisy
(46,116 posts)Democratic majority in both houses. All he'll be able to keep is being a figurehead in the WH until 2021.
spiderpig
(10,419 posts)Ego over all.
Part of me secretly hopes he's dumb enough to do it. Well, we know he's dumb enough.
yardwork
(61,622 posts)Congress's goal is to dismantle as much as possible as quickly as possible before team Trump implodes. They know they don't have four years. They need to get the tax cuts completed before 2018 or they're toast.
Getting Sessions to appoint Mueller buys time.
dlk
(11,566 posts)Given his current level of support, if Trump were to fire Mueller, he could very well get away with it. He has the authority and it would most likely be the end of our government.
metalbot
(1,058 posts)If he was willing to pressure the FBI to not investigate Flynn, it seems a pretty small step to a pardon. A couple more pardons for Stone and Manafort, and he's plugged most of his leaks. He'd never get re-elected after that, but I can't imagine that Trump wants to do this for 8 years anyway...
True Dough
(17,305 posts)Donny has nothing to hide, just like with his taxes!
Historic NY
(37,449 posts)MineralMan
(146,317 posts)he confessed to everything. Now, there is no way to overestimate Trump's stupidity, but perhaps someone will advise him not to attempt such a thing. The more likely result, in time, will be Trump's resignation and an immediate pardon by Pence. That won't help all of those others who colluded with the Russians, but it would give Trump some shelter.
reflection
(6,286 posts)but I think if he did that, he will have crossed the Rubicon, even with some Republicans, and would be promptly impeached. Who knows. A man can dream.