In the three-plus months since his appointment as special prosecutor, Robert Mueller has built his team with the zeal of a kid playing Madden with the salary cap turned off, cherry-picking some of the legal world's heaviest hitters to help him do the Lord's work of investigating the Trump administration's myriad alleged ties to Russia. His latest alliance, though, might be the most significant one yet: According to Politico, Mueller is now comparing notes with New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman regarding the Justice Department's inquiry into the activities of former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort.

The two teams have shared evidence and talked frequently in recent weeks about a potential case, these people said. One of the people familiar with progress on the case said both Mueller’s and Schneiderman’s teams have collected evidence on financial crimes, including potential money laundering.

As Trump has previously made clear via his social media service of choice, he does not much care for Schneiderman, an opinion that probably has to do with the fact that Schneiderman, in the past, has—and this is a legal term of art, so bear with me—repeatedly kicked his sorry ass up and down the courtroom aisles. Here is Trump in February 2016, vowing never to settle the case that Schneiderman brought against the then-candidate's comically fraudulent Trump University:

And here is what Trump, who will be the first to tell you that he never settles frivolous lawsuits, had to say in November after he paid $25 million to—you guessed it—settle the case.

The reason this matters—other than the sudden involvement in Russiagate of a man who Trump once accused of wearing eyeliner, for some reason—is because as that investigation expands, the prospect of the president using his power to pardon his associates of alleged federal crimes suddenly looms large. Last week's pardon of former Maricopa County sheriff and current disgusting old bigot Joe Arpaio was an outrageous endorsement of unapologetic racism and xenophobia, but it also functioned as a giant wink to any nervous Trump associates who might be under pressure from the suddenly subpoena-happy Mueller: The president, if it came down to it, would have their backs.

Schneiderman's appearance changes that calculus. The Constitution limits the pardon power only to "offenses against the United States"—that is, to federal crimes. Thus, if New York's attorney general brings state law charges against Manafort or Flynn or whichever crony du jour is looking guiltiest right now, the only thing Trump can do about it is tweet. In order to exercise jurisdiction, Schneiderman would first have to show that one or more elements of a crime occurred in that state. But this isn't a particularly difficult hurdle to clear under New York law, and besides, it seems pretty likely that at least some of the alleged criminal activity engaged in by noted New York resident Donald J. Trump will have occurred in the state of New York.

Although it's great fun to speculate wildly about where Robert Mueller's team is looking, or how much he knows, or on what date he might dramatically stroll up Pennsylvania Avenue and nail his findings to the door of the White House like Martin Luther delivering the 95 Theses, the reality is that it may be years before his investigation wraps up. When that time comes, however, and whatever scintillating conclusions it yields, the involvement of New York's chief law enforcement officer makes it just a bit a little less likely that President Trump and company will find a way to wriggle out of it.

Watch Now:

What Happens Next If Trump Is Impeached?