re: #470 JordanRules

Isn’t Rosenstein the prerequisite to Mueller? Like you cant take Obstruction 102 without taking 101 first.

Rosenstein has the sole discretion to fire Mueller, as I understand the regulations, but only for good cause. There’s an argument to be made that that regulation violates the constitution and the notion that political appointees serve at the pleasure of the president (assuming the special counsel is a political appointee). This takes us to Andrew Johnson impeachment territory.

The problem is, if Trump fires Rosenstein, he can’t name an acting deputy attorney general - he can only do that if there’s a resignation (same reason he can’t really fire Sessions). Instead, oversight of the Mueller investigation would fall to the Solicitor General as next in line within the DOJ hierarchy. That was the endpoint of the Nixon Saturday Night Massacre. The other way it could go, is rather than firing Mueller the replacement could simply restrain the investigation.

That last part gets complicated because according to Maddow last night, there’s reporting that Mueller’s team is just about ready to issue a report on the obstruction of justice part of the investigation. That report goes to Rosenstein and then he has to determine what happens with it - he could send it to Congress for potential impeachment proceedings, he could release it to the public, he could direct Mueller to issue indictments (including against the president), or he could put it in a drawer.

Trump, as he has been from day one, is trapped on this investigation.