Earlier this week when Indictment-palooza rocked Washington, it was music to the ears of those on the left (and those in general) who have been eagerly anticipating the first results from Robert Mueller's investigation into Donald Trump and his campaign's potential ties to Russia. The idea that maybe, just maybe, there's something in this case that will sink this presidency before it can get us all killed in a nuclear war, or before they're able to launch more restrictive, racist, and mean-spirited policies, is an appealing one, but like Charlie Brown trying to kick the football, I've been hesitant to believe it's possible. After all, we're talking about a president that fired the former FBI director to try and end this very investigation. What's to stop him from trying the same thing again and firing Mueller? Decorum? Common sense? Those may be true for past administrations, but certainly not this one. And yet, despite those caveats, Mueller might have enough cover now to get this case to wherever it takes him without getting the axe from Donald.

First, the fact that George Papadopoulos is pleading guilty to lying to the FBI about the campaign's connections to Russia is almost a bulletproof vest for Mueller and the investigation. It's hard to call something a pointless witch hunt, if have one of the "hunted" admitting to the crimes you're investigating. (One of his advisors being like, "Oh, witchcraft? Fuck yeah. We did hella witchcraft," is not a good look for Donald Trump.) This also means that Papadopoulos is cooperating with Mueller and the investigation, which means there's more dirt on the campaign than we publicly know at the moment. This would make firing Mueller even more an example of obstruction of justice than firing Comey. But that only means something if Congress is willing to call Donald Trump's bluff should he pull the trigger on a Mueller firing. And we all know that courage isn't exactly the Republican Congress's calling card.

So imagine my surprise that after the indictments came through, so did Senate Republicans.

Senate Republicans sent a clear and immediate message in the wake of Mueller’s announcement: Don’t fire Bob Mueller. “At this moment, I would think that would be a big mistake,” Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) said Tuesday. “It’s important to let our legal system run its course,” Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said in a statement.

Now you have to take anything Senate Republicans say with a grain of salt, but this is promising, if you want to see Mueller take this thing to the finish line. But, and this is a big but, but making it harder to fire Mueller doesn't mean that it's impossible. According to Gabriel Sherman in Vanity Fair, there are some Trump advisors (maybe one is a former Shadow President of the United States), that want Trump to fight the special counsel publicly.

As Mueller moves to interview West Wing aides in the coming days, advisers are lobbying for Trump to consider a range of stratagems to neutralize Mueller, from conciliation to a declaration of all-out war. One Republican explained Trump’s best chance for survival is to get his poll numbers up. Trump’s lawyer Ty Cobb has been advocating the view that playing ball will lead to a quick resolution (Cobb did not respond to a request for comment). But these soft-power approaches are being criticized by Trump allies including Steve Bannon and Roger Stone, who both believe establishment Republicans are waiting for a chance to impeach Trump. “The establishment has proven time and time again they will fuck Trump over,” a Bannon ally told me.

On its face, that's not great news, but the subtext of it is pretty remarkable. Even Steve Bannon thinks impeachment is on the table. That's a bad sign for Trump and a good one for anyone who likes not being blown up.

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