Former White House lawyer: if Robert Mueller is fired, Donald Trump will be gone from office “soon”
Even as Special Counsel Robert Mueller carefully builds what looks to be a massive criminal case against Donald Trump and his associates on a wide reaching range of charges, investigations this complex tend to take time. Even if Trump’s ouster from office is inevitable, it’s not imminent. But there is one thing that could change that, and fast-track Trump’s exit.
Richard Painter was the chief White House ethics lawyer for the latter years of the George W. Bush administration, and he’s now a law professor. He’s also arisen as a legal expert within the anti-Trump resistance, regularly appearing on television to discuss the latest developments. Here’s what he shared via Twitter on Saturday night:
“Just appeared on FOX News. They are building a case for firing Mueller. If that happens Mike Pence will soon become the 46th President. Trump surrogates are making up Mueller “conflicts” to justify firing him. That will be yet more obstruction of justice if it happens. It’s Saturday night. I was 12 on a Saturday night years ago when people said of President Nixon ‘he’ll be gone soon.’ Go ahead make my day.” (link). This view has also been shared by Congressman Ted Lieu, who is also a former attorney, who is predicting that if Trump fires Mueller, it’ll prompt the Republican-majority Congress into moving forward with the impeachment of Donald Trump.
There are numerous pessimists within the anti-Trump resistance who are convinced that the Republican Congress will never oust Donald Trump under any circumstances. But that makes no logical or political sense. Republicans in Congress view getting reelected as their first priority, and with the midterm races just over a year away, there is a threshold at which Trump’s increasingly toxic popularity would prompt them to throw him overboard for their own benefit. Firing Mueller would cross that threshold. If you’re a regular reader, feel free to support Palmer Report
