If DT fires Mueller, here's how Mueller could stay on the case.

[pnwmom]

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2017/07/no_matter_who_he_fires_or_pardons_trump_won_t_be_able_to_escape_state_attorneys.html

Let’s assume Trump does fire Mueller. It turns out there are many ways for him to get back on the case:

A state prosecutor, with the help of a state attorney general or governor, could hire Mueller and his team of lawyers. They’d have subpoena power under state criminal law.

State attorneys general could use their quo warranto power to investigate the Trump Organization, fraud, and money laundering from Russian sources.

A congressional committee, such as the Senate Intelligence Committee, could hire him. Congress could also create a Joint Select Committee.

Congress could pass a new independent counsel statute that circumvents the president. This would require a veto-proof two-thirds supermajority of each house. Don’t hold your breath on that one.

The civil litigation on emoluments (there are now three suits) and the very intriguing new suit against the Trump campaign for hacking conspiracy can also pursue many of the same questions, and Mueller and his lawyers could be called in as a witness in these cases.

The bottom line is that there are many paths to continue this investigation. If Trump pardons people or fires Mueller, those moves will backfire almost as badly as his firing of James Comey.

[virtualobserver]

1. almost as badly?

I think that the backfire will be 10 times as bad.

[DAMANgoldberg]

2. I'm sure he has such a plan...

I find it hard to believe that he doesn't have a document forward/dump/secure transfer plan with the NY AG, CA AG, and some others. I would say FL AG, but that is a dead-end road.

For sure NY has standing, and for that matter, so does FL, and potentially any state that has trump properties, including NC.

[kentuck]

3. The very idea we have to discus such options is very alarming.

As Richard Painter might say, "We have a very, very serious situation..."

[Awsi Dooger]

4. Could is a lot different than would

Imagine if Comey tried to force his way back in, or a vehicle were proposed to allow that to happen. The wingers would have a field day, mocking Comey and anyone attempting to reinstate him. With Mueller it would be no different. Damaged irrelevant goods. That may not be fair but it's the reality. With half the country laughing at the prospect there's no reason for a Republican controlled congress to do anything but laugh along with them.

I'm a probability guy. None of the methods proposed to damage Trump carry a manageable percentage. That's always been the issue, even if Rachel Maddow and others fail to recognize it.

We needed to win 2016. That was manageable, if somehow we hadn't ignored those simplistic angry males and the states they occupy.

[pnwmom]

5. This wouldn't be Mueller forcing himself back in. It would be someone like Schneider, who has

been investigating money laundering in NY all along, INVITING him back in. Or the Congress, finally fed up, making him Special Prosecutor.

Paul Ryan, of all people, just spoke out today on Mueller's behalf. I think that was a very bad sign for DT.

[smirkymonkey]

6. K&R