More on the bill introduced by Sen Thom Tillis that would let a special counsel challenge their firing in court.
For starters, the Greensboro News & Record (predictably) supports Tillis, at least in this instance:
Tillis, a first-term senator from North Carolina, teamed with Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware to introduce a bill to protect the special counsel against arbitrary firing. It’s a message aimed directly at Trump, who continues to rail against the investigation into Russian election meddling. He did so again at a campaign-style rally in West Virginia on Thursday. “The Russian story is a total fabrication. It is just an excuse for the greatest loss in the history of American politics,” he said. “That’s all it is.”
…“It is critical that special counsels have the independence and resources they need to lead investigations,” Tillis said in a press release. “A back-end judicial review process to prevent unmerited removals of special counsels not only helps to ensure their investigatory independence, but also reaffirms our nation’s system of checks and balances.”
Mueller is conducting a legitimate investigation of unwarranted intrusion into domestic affairs by a hostile country. It’s also necessary to examine the many suspicious contacts between Russian operatives and Trump campaign figures. His work must be protected — even, or especially, from the president.
Meanwhile the News & Observer notes the fire from the right Tillis is drawing, most notably from talk show host Laura Ingraham. Note Tillis fired right back:
Conservative talk show host Laura Ingraham attacked Tillis on Twitter, accusing the first-term senator of not respecting the separate branches of government.
Asked about Ingraham’s comments, Tillis said it was she who needed a lesson in government.
“The response is the irony in the statement,” he said on ABC. “I work in Congress. I’m a member of the Senate. My job is to assert the authority of the Congress as a co-equal branch. For that particular person, they may want to go back and study up on Civics 101.”
The L.A. Times—not exactly a right-wing rag—-analyzes the situation. Bottom line—if President Trump decides to fire special counsel Robert Mueller, he has the right to do so.
