Hopefully, you are at least somewhat familiar with the Saturday Night Massacre. Without going into all the details, on October 20, 1973, President Nixon attempted to seize control of the Watergate investigation and avoid complying with a subpoena compelling him to turn over copies of conversations that had been taped in his White House offices. He ordered his attorney general Eliot Richardson to fire the independent special prosecutor he had appointed, a man named Archibald Cox.
There were at least two problems with that order from Richardson’s point of view. First, he was prohibited by law from firing Cox without cause, meaning examples of gross improprieties or malfeasance in office. Cox hadn’t done anything to merit removal. Second, when Richardson was going through the confirmation process, he had specifically promised the Senate that he would not fire Cox without cause. Rather than break that promise he refused to comply with Nixon’s order and resigned.
Nixon then made the same demand of the deputy attorney general William Ruckelshaus. But Ruckelshaus also refused to fire Cox and resigned. At the time, the third in succession was Robert Bork, who was serving as the solicitor general. Bork agreed to fire Cox and was later rewarded by Ronald Reagan with a nomination to the Supreme Court.
Today things are quite similar but different in a couple of important respects. Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from the Russia investigation and so was not responsible for the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller. That job fell to deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein. Another difference is that the line of succession has changed. Today, the solicitor general (currently Noel Francisco) is fourth in the line of command. The third position belongs to the associate attorney general, which is currently vacant.
If we were to layer the current line of succession on the Watergate map, it would look like this:
- Attorney General: Eliot Richardson >
Jeff Sessions(RECUSED) > - Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelhaus > Rod Rosenstein
- Solicitor General Robert Bork >
Associate Attorney General(VACANT) - ———————————– > Solicitor General Noel Francisco
As you can see, if President Trump attempted a reprise of the Saturday Night Massacre, he would start by either firing Rosenstein or forcing him to resign. Next in line currently would be Noel Francisco. But if Trump can fill the associate attorney general position with someone as compliant as Robert Bork proved to be, he could succeed in having Robert Mueller fired.
The problem is, Trump cannot find anyone willing to take the job of associate attorney general. The Wall Street Journal skirts around the real issue here.
The Trump administration has put its search for the Justice Department’s No. 3 official on the back burner after failing to persuade several early candidates to take the challenging position, according to people familiar with the matter…
…Officials have informally approached at least three potential candidates for the post, including attorneys Helgi Walker and Kate Todd, who said they wouldn’t be interested in taking on the job right now, according to the people familiar with the matter. Both declined to comment…
…Mr. [Rod] Rosenstein lamented the glacial confirmation process during public appearances recently, saying, “It is a long runway for a job that lasts for only a few years.”
Nominees generally must set aside their law practices while they await a vote, potentially making the positions less desirable.
It’s true that the confirmation process has become brutal in general and would be particularly rough for someone seeking this position. It’s also true that taking a government job often involves a significant financial sacrifice. But the main reason no one wants the job is that it is generally understood that the position is really being used as a mechanism for sabotaging the Mueller investigation. Trump could not be more clear that he is livid that Sessions recused himself. He’s furious that Rosenstein appointed a special counsel. He knows that Rosenstein would resign rather than fire Mueller and that this would not solve his problem because he cannot rely on Francisco to do his bidding. He needs to fill the hole in the line of succession but he has failed to do so.
Of course, anyone who could be successfully confirmed would have to make the same promises that Eliot Richardson made to the Senate. But then they would have to break those promises.
It’s just not an attractive proposition.
Thank you for explaining this. I only knew a fraction of this.
. . . that it’s utterly typical of their dishonesty) that Banana Republican propagandists have adopted that term to (pretend to) mean a qualified nominee denied confirmation by Dems (never Banana Republicans, cf. Merrick Garland).
By doing Nixon’s bidding to fire Cox that Saturday night, Bork utterly and forever disqualified himself from SCOTUS consideration. His subsequent record confirms that he remains a horrible rightwingnut extremist in the first degree, and would have been a catastrophic SC-seat Occupant. One shudders to think how much awfuler SCOTUS jurisprudence would have been in the interim if Dems (and, I believe, some Repubs — they weren’t all Banana Republicans back then) hadn’t done their constitutional duty in denying him the seat.
. . . was bipartisan:
Ah, those were the (pre-Banana-Republican) days! An at least semi-functional Senate performing its constitutional duty. Getting harder and harder to remind oneself that it ever used to be that way.
(Wiki article has a ‘”Bork” as a verb’ section that’s also kinda interesting.)
So, it’s a relief to hear that Trump “can’t rely on Francisco,” but how do we know that? I’ve seen very little written about him.
Yes.
This is rule of law.
Thank you for your clarity, Booman.
But…another route this man might take would be:
1-Foment a war.
2-Blow it up real big. (The media would help because it would make them a lot of money and the Armed Forces/Clandestine Forces would cooperate because…because that’s what they think that they are there for, most of them.
3a-Claim he cannot do his job as Commender-in-Chief while he is constantly being bothered by the Mueller investigation
And/or:
3b- Claim that we need Russia’s help in that war and thus must tone down the whole RussiaGate thing.
and finally:
4-Usurp every power he can get his hands on.
Now…#4 would need a compliant congress. However, it is my belief that he could get away with it no matter whether the RatPubs control both houses of Congress or only the Senate. Why? Because most of the DemRats in Congress will fear being deprived of their seats in the next election if they oppose a Commander-in-Chief during wartime…the very definition of a compliant Congress.
And there you have it.
A war-supported coup.
Could happen…
Will it?
Damned if I know.
But if I were him…genetically impatient, mentally challenged in many ways and truly vicious…I’d bet on the coup rather than wait and see how long the Mueller thing drags on and how well it fishes. Add to that his probable guilt on any number of fronts.
Watch.
AG
P.S. A few hot summertime riots might do the trick, too. Or a really effective set of terrorist acts. Or a serious financial collapse. Or a truly awful natural disaster. Or any combination or permutation of the five.
P.P.S. Or…and here is my fondest dream…one day Air Force One would take off…ostensibly to NYC or someplace north of DC…and then just keep on keepin’ on the Great Circle route until it lands in Moscow.
We’re all still allowed to dream, right?
And pray, too.
Right?
Let us do so.
Both.
How about a Chris Christie recess appointment?
Oh heavens, Christie has been a bad toadie, not nearly sufficient on the boot-licking scale:
“If the president were to pardon himself, he’ll get impeached.”
Nobody talking like that will be appointed by Trump to anything.
Only because he’s too overweight to bend down that far.
Plus, Trump has little feet, too.
Hard to find…especially when he’s almost always got one in his mouth.
AG
Why couldn’t Trump just keep going down the line? He’s bound to eventually hit someone who would lick his boots.
. . . I hadn’t thought of, but am now curious about the answer.
Is there a point going down the “successional” hierarchy where nobody’s left with the legal authority to do the deed?
Inquiring minds want to know (but some inquiring minds are too lazy to research it!)
As someone who was born long after these events were over, can you answer this?
Bork fired Cox yes, but then didn’t he appoint Jaworski who would not have been any less diligent in carrying out his duties (and thus another signal to Nixon that the game was over)?
Nixon wasn’t immune to public shaming.
Trump doesn’t even acknowledge the concept of shame, humility, or any other thing other than his money and his ego.
I think the only reason is the midterms.
After the midterms, Sessions is fired, Pruitt or another cabinet member is named acting AG to fire Rosenstein and Mueller.
Then it’s just a matter of nerve after that. Democrats have to use every available lever to obstruct Trump for two years. It should be like the sequester, no incremental funding, ktlo only. Of course, they have to flip the House.
Despite the clarity of this post, I find it simply mind-boggling that Der Trumper and his lawyers would have the slightest difficulty finding a shit-eating, no-integrity Trumpite white male lawyer to take on this assignment, which obviously would include being nominated to a circuit court judgeship after carrying out the massacre. Quid pro quo, after all. The country is filled with failed, white, going-nowhere YesTrump lawyers. Certainly “qualifications” are irrelevant: we are well into the Post-Qualifications Age, as is proved by the very existence of the CEO of FailedNation, Inc.
I suppose one has to conclude that even McConnell’s Miscreants can’t be persuaded to go along with the scheme–which is incredible, given the total failure of the US Congress.
But unless Trumper comes up with some scheme along these lines, then he obviously will have no choice but to throw the pile of shit in the solicitor general’s lap whenever Mueller’s game finally becomes clear. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, after all—but racketeer con-man Trumper is well aware of this….