"THERE IS a danger that Americans become so inured to President Trump's indifference to rule of law that they forget how a president who respected public service and the Constitution -- and had nothing to hide -- would speak and behave."
"Despite Trump's denials that there was any collusion with Russia by his campaign or family, there is enough evidence to warrant a wide-ranging review. And that can't be done without exploring the reasons why Russia might have wanted to help Trump. Would our rival now be advantaged in its relations because the president was beholden to Russian interests, either because of loans or because of shady real estate transactions? If that's where the evidence leads, Mueller must follow.
"Trump might never understand how his enormous power is restrained by the Constitution. But he should be smart enough to know that stopping Mueller would end that power altogether."
Matt Ford at The Atlantic provides a historical analysis:
"Any direct efforts to undermine Mueller's inquiry could pose serious challenges for the American rule of law. In prior administrations, presidents have typically insulated themselves from the day-to-day investigative work of the Justice Department to avoid perceptions of political interference. The relationship hasn't always been smooth: Bill Clinton and his White House frequently clashed with Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr during the Whitewater and Lewinsky investigations, although Clinton lacked the power to remove Starr from his post.
"But the Trump administration is not a typical presidential administration. In contemporaneous memos, former FBI Director James Comey depicted a president who sought Comey's pledge of personal loyalty and asked him to drop an investigation into a close adviser. Trump has disputed Comey's accounts of those incidents, which would represent a serious breach of the post-Watergate firewall between the White House and the FBI. The traditional separation between the president and the bureau developed to avoid politicizing the FBI's immense powers."
John Cassidy at The New Yorker:
"To Trump, who views everything through a lens of self-interest, there are no matters of legitimate public interest at stake in the Russia story; no public-spirited officials trying to fulfill their duty to the public; no duty on his part to respect the need for distance between the White House and the Justice Department when it comes to matters having to do with the President. It is all just a political racket, and he is the one getting screwed.
"In truth, of course, Trump has himself to blame for Mueller's appointment. By going ahead and firing Comey, Trump prompted Comey to leak incriminating details about their meetings. And that left Rosenstein little choice but to set up an investigation that was independent of the Justice Department. [...]
"At some point, though, as the Russia investigation gets ever closer to him, he will almost certainly have to answer questions under oath, and there is no knowing how he might react. At the end of the interview, one of the reporters asked Trump if he would fire Mueller if his investigation 'went outside of certain parameters.' Trump's answer was instructive: 'I can't answer that question because I don't think it's going to happen.'"
And here is a blistering analysis by The Star-Ledger editorial board:
"...he put the integrity of independent investigations in his crosshairs during a New York Times interview Wednesday, a head-scratching chinwag that included the usual melange of delusional brain drops ('We are moving forward with a lot of great things'), historical insight ('Well, Napoleon finished a little bit bad'), and geopolitical mastery ('We have a big problem with North Korea. Big. Big, big.').
"The headline was Trump's veiled threat to fire Mueller, the man responsible for determining how much help Russia may have received from the Trump campaign to subvert our democratic institutions. [...]
"Clearly the investigation has escalated to a point that makes him very uncomfortable, and Mueller's reputation for tenacity has the emperor feeling a chill. Trump could always avoid the daily drama and show the country there is nothing to hide, of course -- turning over his tax returns and ordering cooperation from his staff would be a good place to start.
"But being Trump, he will likely rely on more intimidation and legal obstruction. Against an intrepid opponent like Mueller, neither is likely to work. The president's toes, as the old saying goes, just lost contact with the bottom of the pool."
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