Mueller's appointment was a fluke, and that freaks me the hell out.
I don't know how or why Sessions ultimately came to the decision to recuse himself (which led to Rothstein appointing Mueller), but Trump is 100% correct in saying that he didn't have to do it. Sessions certainly wasn't following his conscience, as he obviously doesn't have one. And he didn't succumb to public pressure, as he's held the line on countless other wildly unpopular and divisive decisions. Congressional pressure didn't make it happen, as he has the protection of pretty much 100% of the GOP majorities in both houses of Congress. Finally, he wasn't persuaded by established norms as he and the entire Trump Administration thumbs their noses at any and all existing norms of decency and ethical standards. I really believe that he did so in a momentary "lapse" of his ordinarily horrible judgment.
Seriously, Sessions could have just held firm, and Congressional Republicans would have protected him against any and all criticism. Sure his approval would have gone in the tank, but it's not like he is popular now, and his boss has shown no willingness at all to change course in light of historically bad numbers.
We easily could be in a situation today where the only investigations into these matters were being conducted by the likes of Chuck Grassley, Richard Burr, Devin Nunes, and Trey Gowdy. Eventually some intrepid reporter may have cracked the story, but there's no guarantee that would have happened, and certainly not in just ten months.
Had Sessions taken that course, we'd likely be in a hopeless situation today where Trump and Co. are still able to frame the narrative of this story by stonewalling it to death, which very well may have worked considering the media's tendency to forget about an issue at the first sign of a newer, shinier object.
Mueller has literally been the main reason why I've maintained any optimism at all these last few months, and it's terrifying to think about how easily it could have never happened. I won't speak for anyone else, but that thought literally gives me the chills.
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