5 Thoughts on Donald and Obstruction

Today is a rough day to be talking about politics, given that the morning started off with a targeted shooting attack on Republicans at a softball practice in Virginia. Nonetheless, the Washington Post put up a story reporting that Donald is under a criminal investigation regarding obstruction of justice stemming from the firing of James Comey. Here are five thoughts on this:

1. You Knew it Was Coming: Regardless of the outcome of the investigation, it was inevitable, given Donald's own remarks to Lester Holt when he dropped all pretense about his actions, stating clearly that it was all about Russia. The deal was probably sealed when it was leaked that Donald told the Russians explicitly that he'd gotten rid of his problem, James Comey.
2. Wait For the Attack: Donald is predictable. Despite his claims to having an unpredictable nature, Donald is rather predictable. One of his most easily discernible traits is his undeniable desire to hit back whenever he is hit by bad news. Right about now, his lawyers, whether personal or WH counsel, are pleading with him to stop talking and stop tweeting about this entire subject. But if you wait long enough for it, eventually, Donald will give in to his need to hit back.
3. Wait For the Return Attack: It is very close to open warfare between Donald and the rest of government. For every attack Donald makes, there is an equal but opposite attack in the form of a damaging leak, as noted by Axios.
4. First Constitutional Crisis: Nixon was desperate, but Donald might be crazy...crazy like a fox. The first constitutional crisis could come from a memo directly from Donald firing the special counsel. So what happens? The power of the DoJ to appoint and fire the special counsel rests within the Code of Federal Regulations, not the US Code. There is, literally, no penalty prescribed, if POTUS attempts to directly fire the special counsel. Donald's personal lawyer (Jay Sekulow) hinted at the possibility of what could be coming when he claimed the president was a "unitary executive", meaning, that POTUS holds all power to fire anyone serving within the Executive branch, meaning DoJ in this case. Will SCOTUS constrict the White House with implied limits within the US Constitution?
5. Second Constitutional Crisis: If Donald loses to SCOTUS in the first scenario, he still has at least one more tactic. Imagine the scenario where Donald challenges the DoJ to drop the investigation by firing everyone in the chain of command who refuses to fire special counsel Mueller until he finds someone to do his bidding. Now, SCOTUS will be forced again to make a political ruling in the separation of powers. Will they further limit the White House's powers? Not likely. In this case, they would probably point to Congress' power of impeachment as the proper balance. A subplot exists if Donald openly entices Republican senators to vote against a conviction, thereby forcing double jeopardy into the discussion and a third possible constitutional crisis. If you think this is an improbable outcome, remember that Donald's win was uniquely improbable.