Firing Mueller is a terrible idea. Trump might just do it anyway.

If he sacks the special counsel, the ensuing scandal would consume Congress

President Trump speaks in the White House Rose Garden
(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

One of the big reasons why the scandal surrounding President Trump and the FBI's investigation into Russian interference in last year's election is accelerating so quickly is that people at its center don't understand the consequences of their words and actions. Generally speaking, when you're facing a Department of Justice inquiry the smart thing to do is keep your mouth shut and let your lawyers handle all the talking. Donald Trump, however, is using his Twitter platform to disparage the Russia investigation, attack the people running it, and expose himself to still more jeopardy.

On June 15, the president tweeted that the whole inquiry into potential collusion between his 2016 campaign and the Russians was "phony" and he appeared to confirm The Washington Post's scoop that Special Counsel Robert Mueller had expanded the investigation to look at whether Trump had obstructed justice by firing former FBI Director James Comey. The morning after, Trump attacked Mueller's DOJ supervisor, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, and disparaged Mueller's investigation as a witch hunt:

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Simon Maloy

Simon Maloy is a political writer and researcher in Washington, DC. His work has been published by The Huffington Post, The American Prospect, and Salon.