Trump allies want Mueller’s overseer to be fired

WASHINGTON — Allies of President Donald Trump are campaigning for him to fire the man who oversees special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, but such a move could get messy — and even provoke a legal challenge.

Some House Republicans have been fuming at Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein for being slow to respond to congressional requests for documents related to other matters. And Trump has been angry at the FBI for raiding the office and home of his longtime attorney, Michael Cohen — a move approved by Rosenstein.

But removing Rosenstein — and putting someone else in charge of the Mueller probe — may not be quite as easy as it sounds.

Under normal circumstances, firing Rosenstein would trigger the Justice Department’s line of succession plan and two things would happen.

First, one of Rosenstein’s top assistants would become acting deputy attorney general for everything but the Mueller investigation.

Then, Solicitor General Noel Francisco would be in line to head up the Mueller probe.

But Francisco might have a conflict of interest, raising the possibility of a recusal, said Victoria Bassetti, a fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law. That’s because his former law firm, Jones Day, did legal work for the Trump campaign. A person familiar with the matter, however, disputed the idea that Francisco would have a conflict of interest.

If Francisco recuses himself, the next in line would be Steven Engel, who heads the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel. Engel, however, worked on Trump’s transition team and also might face a conflict of interest.