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What does Jeff Sessions’s ouster mean for Robert Mueller? Here are 3 scenarios.

"Secret Waiver Clears Possible Donald Trump Russia Rod Rosenstein Replacement | Rachel Maddow | MSNBC"

The new acting attorney general Matt Whitaker could try to shut things down. Or he could more subtly interfere.

By Andrew [e-mail] Updated Nov 7, 2018, 5:31pm EST


Robert Mueller Win McNamee/Getty Images

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Whitaker could act as a total hatchet man and kill the investigation entirely. He could carry out more subtle interference by letting Mueller continue but limiting what he can do. Or he could, in the end, let the work continue.

Scenario No. 1: Whitaker as the hatchet man who ends the probe

The most alarming scenario is Trump has installed Whitaker specifically to do the president’s bidding and thwart the probe — completely shutting things down to protect the president.

Whitaker was harshly critical of the investigation in those public comments he made last year before joining the Justice Department. He’s known to be close to the White House. And Trump has signaled that he won’t be in the attorney general job for long, writing, “A permanent replacement will be nominated at a later date.”

The logic seems appealing: put a loyalist in for the time being, have him do the president’s dirty work by getting rid of Mueller and ending the probe, and then nominate a new attorney general.

Whitaker probably could end the Russia investigation, if he wanted to do so badly enough. But there are some obstacles.

For instance, Rod Rosenstein has testified that he believes that he can legally only fire Mueller if there is “good cause” to do so — and that he’s seen no such good cause. There’s also the potential problem of Whitaker exposing himself to potential obstruction of justice charges at a later date, should he act with corrupt intent to end the investigation. House Democrats will be empowered to investigate whatever Whitaker does when their new majority is sworn in next year, and they surely will.

Additionally, there’s the expected political blowback from suddenly ending the investigation outright. “I could fire everybody right now. But I do not want to stop it, because politically I do not like to stop it,” Trump said Wednesday.

Scenario No. 2: Whitaker lets Mueller continue, but reins him in

Whitaker, too, shied away from calling for Mueller’s firing in his public comments on the matter last year. What he suggested was that Sessions’s eventual replacement should seem to let the special counsel continue — but that he should make behind the scenes moves to interfere with things.

One suggestion from Whitaker was that the new AG should cut Mueller’s budget “so low that his investigation grinds to almost a halt.” That would not be a particularly subtle way of interfering, and would certainly cause the Trump administration problems on the Hill.

But there are more subtle things Whitaker could do to give Mueller a hard time. For instance, he could refuse to sign off on certain new investigative moves or further expansion of the probe. Or he could try and ensure that, should Mueller write a report on Russian interference, it wouldn’t be given to Congress.

Or, as Whitaker once alluded in a tweet, the attorney general could decide not to release Mueller’s findings to the public.

https://www.vox.com/2018/11/7/18072956/jeff-sessions-fired-mueller-trump-russia-whitaker

Or he doesn't interfere much, which has to be the least likely, as then, what's the point of Trump getting him there?

Guessing Mueller has anticipated all options and has the situation pretty well covered.