One question has hovered above Washington like none other.
Would Donald Trump fire Robert Mueller?
There was finally an answer as Mueller got this unexpected news about when Trump will fire him.
When Attorney General Jeff Sessions stepped down, many Trump supporters hoped it signaled the President was getting ready to sack Mueller.
The President installing Mueller critic Matt Whitaker as Acting Attorney General was more evidence that President Trump wanted to reign in the special counsel.
Democrats and fake news reporters freaked out.
The panic only increased when Trump nominated William Barr to succeed Sessions as Attorney General on a fulltime basis.
Barr had previously attacked the basis of Mueller’s obstruction investigation and said there was more evidence to investigate Hillary Clinton for the Uranium One scandal than there was the Trump campaign for colluding with the Russians.
But it appears Barr was a Trojan horse who misrepresented his true feelings to the President.
Once under oath, Barr committed to keeping Mueller in place for an unlimited investigation with an unlimited budget.
Vermont Democrat Senator Patrick Leahy quizzed Barr, “Are there any circumstances that would cause you to terminate the investigation or any component of it?”
“Under the regulations, Bob Mueller can only be terminated for good cause,” Barr answered. “Frankly, it is unimaginable to me that Bob would do anything that gave rise to good cause.”
Barr also set an extremely high threshold for establishing good cause to fire Mueller.
“But in theory, if something happened that was good cause, for me it would actually take more than that. It would have to be pretty grave and the public interest would essentially have to compel it, because I believe right now the overarching public interest is to allow him to finish,” Barr continued.
Delaware Senator Chris Coons also pressed Barr on the Department of Justice guidelines that stated the President could only remove a special counsel for good cause.
Coons asked Barr what he would do if the President ordered him to fire Mueller “assuming” there was no good cause.
“I would not carry out that instruction,” Barr responded.
The Delaware Democrat also wanted to know how Barr would respond if the President demanded he change the Department of Justice guidelines about only being able to fire a special counsel for good cause.
Barr answered that the guidelines should stay in place for the remainder of Mueller’s investigation.
At every opportunity, Barr sucked up to Mueller by declining even a whiff of criticism.
Barr flatly stated that Mueller “would not be involved in a witch hunt.”
That statement struck Trump supporters as ridiculous.
Mueller has proven time and time again that this ridiculous investigation is nothing more than a partisan witch hunt designed to undo the results of the 2016 election.
Barr – as well as the people who pushed his nomination – clearly misrepresented his true intentions to the President.
We will keep you up to date on any new developments in this ongoing story.
