Inspector gen. chases tale of ’16 source

embedded with the campaign.

But Trump allies in Congress have pounced on the claim, and a group of Republican members of the House plan to call for the appointment of a second special counsel to investigate the matter Tuesday, according to NBC News.

Critics have lambasted Trump’s “spy” claims as a deliberate effort to discredit special counsel Robert Mueller, who’s probing possible collusion between Trump’s campaign and the Kremlin.

But experts also said Rosenstein’s decision to kick the issue to Horowitz will prevent a constitutional crisis — at least for now.

“I think (the) DOJ lives to see another day,” University of Richmond Law School Prof. Carl Tobias told the Daily News. “That was an astute and cautious move on the part of the Justice Department to be responsive to the President without doing too much or bending too much.”

Sending the matter to the inspector general’s office means a conclusive answer still might be months away, Tobias said. He and other legal mavens saw the move as a compromise that saved top officials from getting fired or buckling to demands from the President.

“It seemed as if the deputy attorney general was doing his best to avoid an outright confrontation,” said John Weaver, previously an adviser for Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Ohio Gov. John Kasich.

But Tobias also wondered how long a ceasefire with the department might last before Trump makes another explosive demand.

“The DOJ dodged a bullet, but there’s a question institutionally about whether this is the best way for the department to operate,” Tobias said.

Weaver warned the commander-in-chief may have overstepped his presidential powers while trying to discredit Mueller’s investigation.

“Politically, they’re trying to get to a point where Republicans don’t trust the Mueller investigation,” he told The News. “That’s their only goal.”

Ali Soufan, a former FBI special agent known for his work related to 9/11, warned that a President’s ability to make requests of the Justice Department is limited, to protect it from political meddling.

“If someone is investigating you, and you order an investigation on the investigators, that is a very dangerous precedent in American history,” Soufan said. “We are at a crossroad, and it’s a very dangerous crossroad. It seems to me so far, lines are being crossed regularly.”

Trump’s supporters have pushed the theory that politically biased FBI officials launched the Russia investigation to undermine his presidency.

Critics say the harsh allegations and Trump’s subsequent pressure on the Justice Department could have a chilling effect on federal law enforcement and its use of confidential sources.

“Imagine if Richard Nixon had the ability to use right-wing news outlets to fight the charges of Watergate,” Weaver said. “That’s what we’re talking about.”