Dangerous Likely DOJ Changes Threaten Mueller’s Investigation

FRED WERTHEIMER’S WEEKLY NOTE | October 11, 2018

“Any effort by President Trump or his loyalists to destroy the Mueller investigation will constitute obstruction of justice and abuse of power of the kind that President Nixon committed in Watergate, and that ultimately led to Nixon’s resignation.”

We are facing the challenge of dangerous changes at the Justice Department in the near future that could seriously damage, if not shut down, the Mueller investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

President Trump is very likely to move quickly to replace Attorney General Jeff Sessions after the November election. The Washington Post reported today that President Trump recently had conversations with AG Sessions’ own chief of staff, Matthew Whitaker, about taking Sessions’ job.

Whitaker was highly critical of the Mueller investigation before he went into government, and is viewed as a Trump loyalist and operative.

It also appears very likely that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who oversees the Mueller investigation, will be gone after the election. Rosenstein has faced repeated attacks by House Republicans working to protect Trump. The President recently said that he did not want to fire Rosenstein, but that view is not expected to last past the election.

Either of these changes would put Trump in a position to name his own loyalist to oversee the Mueller investigation.

Democracy 21 is part of a large coalition of national organizations that has been working since his appointment last year to protect Special Counsel Mueller and his investigation. Our organizations and members will be ready on November 7 to unleash a nationwide campaign if the Mueller investigation is threatened.

We will demand that Congress obtain an ironclad commitment from any new DOJ official put in charge of the Mueller investigation that there will be no interference in the investigation. This kind of commitment could be obtained by Senators in the confirmation process if a new Attorney General is nominated.

Any effort by President Trump or his loyalists to destroy the Mueller investigation will constitute obstruction of justice and abuse of power of the kind that President Nixon committed in Watergate, and that ultimately led to Nixon’s resignation.

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Fred Wertheimer is the Founder and President of Democracy 21, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that works to strengthen our democracy and ensure the integrity and fairness of government decisions and elections. See previous Notes from Fred here.