No, there isn’t going to be a second Special Counsel

| 9:40 pm EST December 12, 2017
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Today Donald Trump’s attorneys announced that White House advisers will now be forbidden from speaking to Special Counsel Robert Mueller, as part of a panic move now that Hope Hicks has essentially given Trump up to Mueller. Trump’s attorneys are also making the surreal demand that a second Special Counsel be appointed to investigate Mueller. Despite all the noise, this won’t happen, because it can’t happen.

The power to appoint a Special Counsel rests with the Attorney General. Jeff Sessions recused himself from the entire Trump-Russia investigation long ago, after he got caught lying under oath about his own role in the conspiracy. That left the decision to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who appointed Mueller after Trump tried to derail the investigation by illegally firing FBI Director James Comey. Rosenstein is the only one who can fire Mueller; Trump can’t.

Rosenstein is also the only person who could theoretically appoint a second Special Counsel to investigate Mueller. This won’t happen. Rosenstein publicly stated just days ago that he’s satisfied with Mueller’s work. He wouldn’t have made this statement if he were willing to go along with the silliness that Trump and his team are calling for on any given day. Trump could fire Sessions, fire Rosenstein, and try to find someone in the Department of Justice willing to either fire Mueller or investigate Mueller.

But realistically speaking, it’s way too late for Donald Trump to do any of the above; he no longer has the political muscle. That window closed the minute Robert Mueller began arresting Trump’s top people for serious Trump-Russia crimes, and the general public began to figure out that the scandal is indeed as real as it gets. So no, there won’t be a second Special Counsel simply because Trump and his goons are demanding one. They know it. They’re just trying to make as much noise as possible to muddy the waters when it comes to what Mueller is uncovering.