It’s looking more and more that Trump is going to either have Mueller fired or have one of his cronies try to restrict his investigation. The Democrats are in a tough spot without any power to do much of anything. All they can do is use the microphone the media provides them to try and issues some warnings.
Senator Dianne Feinstein has issued the following statement.
“I’m growing increasingly concerned that the president will attempt to fire not only Robert Mueller, the special counsel investigating possible obstruction of justice, but also Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein who appointed Mueller.
“The message the president is sending through his tweets is that he believes the rule of law doesn’t apply to him and that anyone who thinks otherwise will be fired. That’s undemocratic on its face and a blatant violation of the president’s oath of office.
“First of all, the president has no authority to fire Robert Mueller. That authority clearly lies with the attorney general—or in this case, because the attorney general has recused himself, with the deputy attorney general. Rosenstein testified under oath this week that he would not fire Mueller without good cause and that none exists.
“And second, if the president thinks he can fire Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein and replace him with someone who will shut down the investigation, he’s in for a rude awakening. Even his staunchest supporters will balk at such a blatant effort to subvert the law.
“It’s becoming clear to me that the president has embarked on an effort to undermine anyone with the ability to bring any misdeeds to light, be that Congress, the media or the Justice Department. The Senate should not let that happen. We’re a nation of laws that apply equally to everyone, a lesson the president would be wise to learn.”
This clearly looks like a bit of an act of desperation on their part, an appeal to congressional Republicans who show little love for democracy and continue to move closer to an authoritarian/fascist philosophy. I give them a ton of credit for trying to apply public pressure on the Republicans for what they must consider an almost inevitable event.
I’m still waiting for a strong warning from a group of Republicans warning Trump not to make a mockery of what’s left of our democracy, but I suspect I might be waiting for a long time. Despite the Kumbaya, false equivalency moments of the last few days in congress, the Republican party continues to be the biggest threat to American democracy. They can put an end to Trump’s threats against Mueller and Rosenstein in a second, by simply promising to appoint Mueller to a congressional special investigator position if Mueller’s current investigations is hampered in any way.
A big hand for Schiff and Feinstein for jumping on this early and to those Democrats who I’m sure will be joining them.
RESIST!