Sessions to be replaced by a Fox News commentator who once described in detail how he would kill the Mueller investigation… I think this probably qualifies as a constitutional crisis, right?

[above: A shot from outside the White House tonight by CNN’s Jim Acosta, who had his press credentials stripped this afternoon after standing up to Donald Trump.]

Back in July of 2017, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said there’d be “holy hell to pay” if Trump fired Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Well, today, Donald Trump not only fired Sessions, but announced that the Attorney General would be temporarily replaced by Matthew Whitaker, a former Fox News contributor who had been serving as Sessions’ Chief of Staff. As for why Trump selected Whitaker, who has previously been referred to by the New York Times as the West Wing’s “eyes and ears” inside the Justice Department, one would assume it has something to do with the fact that he’s been openly hostile toward the Mueller investigation.

Whitaker not only penned an op-ed for CNN titled, “Mueller’s investigation of Trump is going too far,” but he said the following during a subsequent interview on the cable news network. “I could see a scenario where Jeff Sessions is replaced,” he said, “and (the incoming) Attorney General doesn’t fire Bob Mueller, but he just reduces his budget to so low that his investigations grinds to almost a halt.” And he’s also gone on the record stating that, by crossing Trump’s “red line,” and looking into the finances of the President and his family members, Mueller has raised “serious concerns that the special counsel’s investigation was a mere witch hunt.”

[above: The magnificent beast, and protector of Donald Trump, Matthew Whitaker.]

So, now, this Trump loyalist, who once referred to Mueller’s investigators as a “lynch mob,” will be overseeing the Mueller investigation as acting Attorney General of the United States…. As you’re recall, Sessions wasn’t directly overseeing the investigation, as he’d recused himself from anything Russia-related when it became known that he’d lied about meetings that he’d taken with Russian officials while serving on Trump’s campaign team, but Whitaker, as he’s not recused himself, can claim ownership of the investigation, taking oversight responsibilities away from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.

Speaking of recusals, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer demanded this afternoon that Whitaker “should recuse himself from (the Russia probe) for the duration of his time as acting Attorney General” given his previous comments “advocating defunding and imposing limitations on the Mueller investigation.” And, to their credit, a few Republicans followed suit to some extent. In a statement, Senator Susan Collins said, “I’m concerned Rod Rosenstein will no longer be overseeing the probe. Special Counsel Mueller must be allowed to complete his work without interference—regardless of who is Attorney General.” And outgoing Senator Jeff Flake, who Trump, earlier today, bragged about driving from office, urged his colleagues to pass S.2644, the Special Counsel Independence and Integrity Act, to safeguard the Mueller investigation. “McConnell should bring the bill to the Senate floor as soon as possible.” But, of course, Lindsey Graham’s “holly hell” never came.

[above: This image comes from a post I wrote last July, after the bipartisan Special Counsel Independence and Integrity Act passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, only to have Mitch McConnell keep in from being voted on by the full Senate. Read the post, if you get a chance, and share it. It’s important stuff.]

As for why Trump made the move to fire Sessions now, and thereby attempt to end the Mueller investigation, one can only assume that it has to do with the results of yesterday’s midterm election, and the prospect of a Democratic majority being seated in the House on January 3rd. Donald Trump knows that, unless he does something over the next two months, he’s finally going to be held accountable for his numerous crimes. [Trump had wanted to be rid of Sessions since he recused himself from the Russia probe. We know, from reports, that Trump said that Sessions didn’t do enough to “protect him” and “safeguard” him, apparently not understanding that it’s the Attorney General’s job, not to look out for the President, but to ensure that our laws are upheld.]

And, I should add, this wasn’t all that Trump did today. This morning, before once again declaring the press “the enemy of the people,” he began making threats against those Democrats who would be using their newly found subpoena power to investigate him. And Mitch McConnell began warning his colleagues in Congress against what he called “presidential harassment,” apparently forgetting that Congress has a constitutional role to provide presidential oversight.

I have to say that, right now, I’m pretty damned concerned, as it certainly appears as though our President is ratcheting up his obstruction of justice game in hopes of avoiding any legal consequences for his actions. All is not lost, though… at least not yet. Here are three things to consider.

1. I don’t know how much merit the argument has, but I just saw it mentioned that, as Chief of Staff for Attorney General Sessions, Whitaker would not have gone through a Senate confirmation hearing, and therefore cannot legally serve as Attorney General. If true, one would imagine this would slow whatever their plan is down considerably. Of course, it may not be true that he has to be confirmed, as he’s just been named the interim Attorney General, but it’s something to explore.

2. According MSNBC Producer Kyle Griffin, “If Whitaker is now supervising the Mueller investigation, any final report by Mueller will go to Whitaker, who could decline to make it public or transmit it to Congress. But the House Intelligence Committee could subpoena it and anyone involved in preparing it.” So, no matter what happens, the findings of the Mueller report, now that we’re going to have a Democratic House, will become public.

3. There’s a good chance that Mueller knew that this was going to happen eventually and took precautions. Most likely, he likely already has sealed indictments ready to go. The following is from independent journalist Marcy Wheeler.

…All that said, Mueller was surely expecting just such an eventuality. And the fact that they got Roger Stone attorney Tyler Nixon to testify Friday suggests they were prepping for it, getting the last bit of evidence against Stone in place.

The only question is whether they got the grand jury to approve whatever indictments they were working on. I’d be surprised if Mueller didn’t (unless Rod Rosenstein prevented him from doing so).

If that’s the case, then Whitaker is not going to help Trump get out of his legal troubles. That’s because Chief Judge Beryl Howell, not Whitaker, will make the decision about unsealing anything sealed in this grand jury investigation.

So if Mueller prepared for this very predictable eventuality, then Trump may have just fired a key player in his racist agenda for naught…

But, with all of that having been said, we shouldn’t count on anything good coming of this. And we can’t afford to just sit back and hope for the best. I know it’s a long shot, especially now that the Republicans have even more of a stranglehold over the Senate, but we need to try to force Mitch McConnell to bring the Special Counsel Independence and Integrity Act to a vote. It’s hard to say what would happen if he did, and whether or not Republicans would vote to protect the investigation, but we should at least try to bring it to a vote, if for no other reason that to see where our elected officials stand when it comes to protecting the rule of law.

One last thing… Is anyone else wondering why Donald Trump and the Republicans are no longer talking about the deadly army of invaders heading toward our southern border? I hate to say it, but it’s almost as if the whole thing was just political theater. Who would have thought?

Oh, and it’s probably worth nothing that Whitaker, in addition to having worked for Fox News, served as campaign chair for Sam Clovis’s 2014 bid to become Iowa state treasurer. Clovis, as you’ll recall, is the man who, as Trump’s 2016 campaign co-chairman, brought Russian stooge Carter Page onto the team. Make of that what you will.

update: Audio has been unearthed of Whitaker saying that the Russians did not interfere in our election, contradicting the findings of every U.S. intelligence agency. “The left is trying to sow this theory that essentially Russians interfered with the US election,” he says in the recording. “Which has been proven false.”

update: There will be a protest in Ann Arbor Thursday, November 8, at the federal building. It will begin at 5:00.