How Trump is turning the Justice Department against Mueller

President Trump's strategy to slander the Russia investigation has a powerful new ally

Robert Mueller.
(Image credit: Illustrated | Alex Wong/Getty Images, royyimzy/iStock)

Before even a day had passed after Democrats routed Republicans for control of the House of Representatives, President Trump sent everything sideways once again by firing — sorry, "requesting" the resignation of — Attorney General Jeff Sessions. The most immediate question stemming from Sessions' ouster, and his (likely unconstitutional) replacement by the transparently unqualified political operative Matthew Whitaker, was about the fate of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's sprawling investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 election, now presumed to be in grave jeopardy as the president contemplates the steps necessary to fire him. Democrats are apoplectic. Has Trump found his willing executioner, his Robert Bork?

Probably not. The danger, as it has been for some time, is less about Mueller getting fired than it is about crafting the narrative in response to his now-inevitable report.

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David Faris

David Faris is an associate professor of political science at Roosevelt University and the author of It's Time to Fight Dirty: How Democrats Can Build a Lasting Majority in American Politics. He is a frequent contributor to Informed Comment, and his work has appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times, The Christian Science Monitor, and Indy Week.