Can Trump directly fire special prosecutor Mueller?

[JEDI]

or does the DoJ (ie: Sessions) have final say?

ie: Nixon/Watergate

 

[thilanliyan]

I think it's Rosenstein.

 

[MomentsofSanity]

It’s Rosenstein. Session recused and Rosenstein appointee Mueller. He would have to rescind it or be fired and the next one do it. He’s the one to keep an eye on if someone’s going to make a move.

 

[fskimospy]

or does the DoJ (ie: Sessions) have final say?

ie: Nixon/Watergate

I'm pretty sure Trump can directly fire Mueller if he wants to. Current DOJ regulations say its the Attorney General (ie: Sessions) but as he has recused himself it's Rosenstein. The thing is, Trump could change those regulations tomorrow if he feels like it with an executive order assigning oversight duties to himself personally. While that would probably be very politically unwise it would be technically within his powers as I understand it.

At this point regardless of what happens it really shows why the old independent counsel statute was so important. At no point should the president have hiring and firing authority over the people investigating him. That's a recipe for massive corruption.

 

[Stokely]

I guess if an exec order can change things then sure...but as things stand, the AG has to do it. Sessions is recused iirc so it would fall to Rosenstein. If he refuses, Trump (or Sessions?) can fire him and it's next person up--and they keep going until they find someone willing to do it. This is essentially what Nixon did in the Saturday Night Massacre. Two people refuses (and resigned, at least the first one did) and then Robert Bork fired the investigator. What I didn't realize until just now was that it was nine months later until impeachment articles were drawn up (!) And from the same wiki article, that until then most people were not disapproving of Nixon.

So history says this may not be as quick a deal as people think...both in the investigation results, and in any aftermath.

 

[Jhhnn]

I guess if an exec order can change things then sure...but as things stand, the AG has to do it. Sessions is recused iirc so it would fall to Rosenstein. If he refuses, Trump (or Sessions?) can fire him and it's next person up--and they keep going until they find someone willing to do it. This is essentially what Nixon did in the Saturday Night Massacre. Two people refuses (and resigned, at least the first one did) and then Robert Bork fired the investigator. What I didn't realize until just now was that it was nine months later until impeachment articles were drawn up (!) And from the same wiki article, that until then most people were not disapproving of Nixon.

So history says this may not be as quick a deal as people think...both in the investigation results, and in any aftermath.

Robert Bork... now there's a right wing toady. And yet, somehow, Reagan & the GOP thought he was SCOTUS material...

 

[Moonbeam]

This is only an academic discussion. The reality is that secular law can have no real respect of meaning to the Party of God. The truth is that The Good People must do what is really right. They don't expect the Devil to understand and won't listen to him.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

This is only an academic discussion. The reality is that secular law can have no real respect of meaning to the Party of God. The truth is that The Good People must do what is really right. They don't expect the Devil to understand and won't listen to him.

But Moonie-Man! That's just the point of it!

Evangelical blindness to fact and logical inference has driven them to support Satan's Spawn in the White House. It's the ultimate in Hypocrisy! Who are they listening to? That's an interesting question!

Can I prove that Trump is the Devil's Puppet? No. I only suspect it. And there aren't any statutes against it, if one could. We can only prove wrongdoing.

Or Mueller can. History won't tolerate fiction as fact. If there is a There there, we won't find out if Trump is successful in quashing the investigation.

 

[imported_tajmahal]

President Trump has the Constitutional authority to fire Special Counsel Mueller at any time he chooses. He'd be an idiot to do it, but he plays in that ballpark all the time.

 

[Moonbeam]

But Moonie-Man! That's just the point of it!

Evangelical blindness to fact and logical inference has driven them to support Satan's Spawn in the White House. It's the ultimate in Hypocrisy! Who are they listening to? That's an interesting question!

Can I prove that Trump is the Devil's Puppet? No. I only suspect it. And there aren't any statutes against it, if one could. We can only prove wrongdoing.

Or Mueller can. History won't tolerate fiction as fact. If there is a There there, we won't find out if Trump is successful in quashing the investigation.

It won't be Evangelicals that bring Trump to heel. Between the bubble conservatives are living in and its rejection by history is a period in which the fate of the country is up for grabs. It looks to me like the emperor's clothes are falling off and a tidal wave is coming to sweep him away. We create what we fear which has always been a comfort to me in that his fear of losing power to me has meant he is destined to fall.

 

[Jhhnn]

President Trump has the Constitutional authority to fire Special Counsel Mueller at any time he chooses. He'd be an idiot to do it, but he plays in that ballpark all the time.

I think that this may have set off a panic in the Oval Office-

https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/19/politics/donald-trump-lawyers-concern-questions/index.html

Prosecutors usually know the answer to any question they pose to a suspected perp. Some questions can indicate that they already know too much for the perp to walk away.

 

[feralkid]

Robert Bork... now there's a right wing toady. And yet, somehow, Reagan & the GOP thought he was SCOTUS material...

I did enjoy his work, playing King Tut on the old Batman TV series.

 

[Puffnstuff]

I fully expect for Trump to dismiss Mueller before the end of the month.

 

[imported_tajmahal]

I fully expect for Trump to dismiss Mueller before the end of the month.

I don't, but i do think he's going to have Attorney General Sessions start a Special Counsel investigation into the FBI and FISA, one that will scoop up Hillary along the way. In a months time, but after the IG report comes out.

 

[HomerJS]

I don't, but i do think he's going to have Attorney General Sessions start a Special Counsel investigation into the FBI and FISA, one that will scoop up Hillary along the way. In a months time, but after the IG report comes out.

There's no need for an SC to investigate the FISA warrant. He can just do what he did with the Russians in the Oval, declassify the info. He could also ready it himself but he will do neither because it won't backup his lies.

Also I don't think Trump can directly fire Mueller. He can order someone to do it starting with Rosenstein. If R refuses he just goes down the line until he finds someone who will, ala Nixon.