Adjunct Professor Joel Cohen wrote an op-ed in The Hill regarding the ramifications if President Trump were to fire special counsel Robert Mueller.
The president, no doubt, would prefer that Mueller come into the daylight and make his claims — or intentions — to the news media. If he did, the president’s accusations about Mueller’s intentions would be far more believable (though Trump’s base apparently still believes most of what he tells them). Were Mueller to speak about the president publicly, Trump could more credibly argue that Mueller is “out to get him,” through any means and at any cost.
He could tweet that Mueller’s team is his partisan political enemy (“See what I’ve been telling you? Sad!”). The best defense, and a good offense, may be to attempt to prove in the court of public opinion that Mueller’s actions are political, nothing more. Yet, day after day, Mueller denies the president that potential defense, and so the president is left to deflect in other ways.