USA Today editorial: Don't wait for Mueller to be fired; protect him now

[Upstate One]

THE EDITORIAL BOARD | USA TODAY 9:02 p.m. EDT Mar. 20, 2018

A few Republicans have offered tepid support for the special prosecutor. Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah called firing Mueller "the stupidest thing" Trump could do. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said it "would be the beginning of the end of his presidency."

But can we be sure about that? Would a GOP-led Congress that can barely agree on short-term government funding coalesce around the monumental and inevitably partisan task of impeachment?

Trump would have his reasons for firing Mueller, however contrived. By regulation, the special counsel can be dismissed for, among other things, a "conflict of interest or other good cause," and the president is already drumming up those grounds with his confrontational tweets.

Such concocted logic might be enough for die-hard Trump supporters in the House to sway squeamish colleagues into blocking impeachment. Meanwhile, the president would have at least momentarily frustrated an investigation that could threaten his power and his finances.

Read more https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2018/03/20/congressional-republicans-must-protect-robert-mueller-now-editorials-debates/439009002/

[Hortensis]

1. Great! Maris Poll: 72% of REGISTERED VOTERS want Mueller protected,

to complete his investigation. Only 11% want him fired!

Extremely interesting, 57% of Republicans want the Mueller investigation completed, 25% not.

AND it's 76% for "independents," 8% not, showing a heavy lean in one direction despite the many conservatives in this group.

83% and 4% for Democrats.

This doesn't mean Trump won't fire him, but it does mean the Republican leadership knows they failed to stop what is now a growing national tide.