Finish that sentence, because that’s what everyone seems to be doing right now. Republican Senators are promising “holy hell” if that happens, while Democratic organizations are threatening a march of civil unrest in 48 states if Trump were to remove Robert Mueller as Special Counsel. There is too much at stake, so it seems very unlikely that the President would attempt such a move, but a lot of people seem to think it’s possible, so they’re preemptively firing warning shots.
Trump’s new golfing buddy, Lindsey Graham, says there will be serious consequences if Trump were to fire Mueller, according to Fox News:
There “will be holy hell to pay” if Mueller is dismissed, Senator Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told Fox News on Monday, unconcerned about rumblings of the ongoing threat Mueller poses to the president. He said there is zero evidence from the White House that Mueller’s investigation will be stopped or curtailed.
Asked to elaborate, Graham continued: “I’ve heard nothing from the White House to suggest that the president’s going to try to replace Mr. Mueller. Zero evidence from anybody I’ve talked to. It would be wrong to do so unless there were cause.”
Graham is just one of many within the GOP who are worried that Trump might make a move to either replace Mueller, or end the investigation entirely. According to other reports, the new indictments of Manafort and his business associate have turned Trump even more angry at the entire ordeal.
On the other side of the aisle, the progressive group MoveOn.org has begun a rallying call for organizers to assemble in the streets in every contiguous state if Mueller is removed, according to Newsweek:
Americans are planning to protest across the United States Monday if President Donald Trump moves to fire Russia investigation special counsel Robert Mueller in the wake of his probe’s first arrest.
“Nobody Is Above the Law” rallies have been organized in multiple cities in 48 states by the group MoveOn.org, a progressive political action group, set to begin if and when Mueller is fired.
The group argues that it “would be a constitutional crisis for our country” if Mueller is dismissed, in an announcement about the rallies on its website.
In response to all this, the White House says it has “no plans” to fire Robert Mueller, according to Business Insider:
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders declined on Monday to unequivocally rule out the possibility of President Donald Trump firing special counsel Robert Mueller, though she said Trump had no plans to do so.
“There’s no intention or plan to make any changes in regards to special counsel,” Sanders said at the White House press briefing.
As the story notes, there’s a difference between having “no plans” to fire Mueller, and simply stating that Mueller will not be fired. I can imagine this as a subtle jab at Mueller since he serves currently at the pleasure of the Justice Department and technically he could be fired or replaced at any time. Right now it appears unlikely, due to the Manafort indictment and the potential firestorm.
However, if the investigation veered into the finances of the Trump organization, for example, that might change nature of the game. Paul Manafort was indicted for things that happened before the campaign, and had nothing to do with any possible Russian collusion, yet Mueller pierced into his finances since the evidence trail led there. It’s entirely possible that Mueller could look over Trump’s finances for the past 30 years if he wanted to, in fact he probably already has. At that point, the “Trump fires Mueller” watch will begin.
