By Julian Borger
Thursday 18 May 2017
With the appointment of Robert Mueller as special counsel, the future of Donald Trump’s presidency has become significantly more precarious. Institutionally, a special prosecutor is harder to sack or sway than a regular justice department lawyer. He can be fired by the same person who hired him, Rosenstein (the attorney general, Jeff Sessions, has recused himself on matters pertaining to Russia). But having been used once in humiliating fashion, Rosenstein is unlikely to bend to the White House’s wishes a second time. Mueller’s specific job description tells him to carry on the investigation that Comey was overseeing plus “any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation”. That is open-ended. The mandate can also encompass the question of obstruction of justice looming over Trump’s apparent efforts to get Comey to drop the Flynn case, and Comey’s reported memos about his conversations with Trump.
The personal factor Trump now faces is Mueller himself. He is highly regarded across the party divide in Washington. Unlike Comey he has not been tainted by the experience of a particularly tarnished presidential election. Legal and law enforcement veterans rushed online to praise Mueller on Wednesday night. David Kris, a former assistant attorney general for national security, wrote on the Lawfare blog: “Mueller is experienced, knowledgeable, capable. He is utterly incorruptible. He cannot be intimidated. At this stage in his career, he has nothing to prove, no reputation to burnish, no axe to grind.” That kind of reputation makes it very hard for Trump to fire Mueller. It is now clear beyond any doubt, that the investigation is deadly serious, and not a sideshow. And it is likely to help persuade still loyal but nervous Republicans that they might soon find themselves on the wrong side of history.
