SHOWDOWN FOR A SHOWMAN
Firing his attorney general brings the endgame in sight for Trump.
So, the epic showdown between Donald Trump and Robert Mueller has finally begun — like a slow-motion “Saturday Night Massacre” — and the fate of American democracy hangs in the balance.
Doesn’t this sound like a typical week in the shambolic Trump presidency? Yes. Sadly. But is it more? Yes. Much more. After a raucous 90-minute news conference on Wednesday during which an angry Trump seemed on the verge of coming to blows with reporters, the president made it clear what really matters most to him when he is alone with his Twitter feed in the White House: What does special counsel Mueller have on him and his family? And how can Mueller be stopped?
For the Democrats, as they celebrate taking back control of the House of Representatives in Tuesday’s midterm elections, these are the questions that now matter most to them: How quickly will the president move directly against Mueller? And how can Trump be stopped?
Although he made no mention of it at his news conference, the White House released a statement late Wednesday that attorney general Jeff Sessions had in effect been fired, and was replaced by Matt Whitaker, a Trump loyalist who has frequently expressed criticism of the Mueller probe.
Ominously, this means that Whitaker, who served as Sessions’ chief of staff and was widely regarded as Trump’s “eyes and ears” in the Department of Justice, replaces deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein as the overseer of Robert Mueller’s investigation.
There are many parallels with Richard Nixon’s Watergate scandal. On Oct. 20, 1973 — in what became known as the “Saturday Night Massacre” — the embattled president fired special prosecutor Archibald Cox and accepted the resignations of the attorney general and his deputy.
This was Nixon’s failed attempt to stop the inquiry into the June 1972 break-in of the Democratic headquarters. Nixon’s attack on the Justice Department that Saturday night ultimately led to his resignation in August 1974.
Trump appears to be following the same playbook as Nixon, except that this is a slow-motion version. But there can be no doubt why he appointed Whitaker.
In every sense, Whitaker appears as a Trump acolyte. He has frequently criticized the Mueller probe for expanding beyond Russia’s interference of the 2016 presidential election and getting into Trump’s family and business finances.
Last year on CNN, he discussed how Mueller could be brought back into line: “I could see a scenario where Jeff Sessions is replaced with a recess appointment, and that attorney general doesn’t fire Bob Mueller. But he just reduces his budget to so low that his investigation grinds to almost a halt.”
The scope of the Mueller investigation has been an obsession of Trump’s since the inquiry began, so Whitaker’s words must have been consoling to the president.
Mueller’s team has been investigating whether Trump and his campaign engaged in a conspiracy with Russian intelligence to undermine the 2016 election and whether Trump committed obstruction of justice by trying to keep those actions secret.
But Mueller is also investigating why Trump appears so beholden to the Russians, and that is a “red line” in Trump’s view.
It has been long suspected that Trump’s once-bankrupt business empire has been kept afloat for years by illegal money laundering and investments from the Russian mafia.
Trump’s power to stop Mueller is not limitless. Thankfully, it will be the Democrats in control of the House of Representatives as of January, and that will bring a new level of accountability to Trump and his team.
But, as in 1973, the rule of law in the United States is now on trial. Is the president above the law? And does America’s Justice Department serve the interests of this president — over the interests of the country?