For now, Trump won’t fire Rosenstein or Mueller

Robert S. Mueller III, center, in June 2017. (Andrew Harnik/AP)

Is the Nunes memo the setup for President Trump to fire Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, as many are speculating, and to clear the way to also fire special counsel Robert S. Mueller III? 

I don’t think so. In fact, it is more likely that the memo came about because Trump and his small group of constitutional vandals decided the opposite: that the political price would be too high to fire either man, and they needed another strategy. Bullies often have a preternatural sense of when a target is too big or popular, and Trump has concluded that if he tried to take either man down, he would likely lose the encounter. Over the years, Trump has changed the norms of acceptable behavior in business, personal and now political life, but, in order to do that, you have to understand how to incrementally move the boundaries, not cross them.

Post deputy editorial page editor Ruth Marcus says what's really interesting about the Nunes memo is how it'll be used. (Video: Gillian Brockell/The Washington Post)

To use another pugilistic metaphor, Trump has decided to work the body of the investigation, not go for its head. By casting doubt on its integrity, trash-talking Rosenstein and mocking Mueller, Trump hopes to precondition enough people to believe that the Russia investigation is indeed a political witch hunt.

And it seems to be working, at least with Republicans. In a widely reported and depressing poll, Survey Monkey finds that almost a majority (47 percent) of Republicans now have a negative view of the FBI. For now, Trump’s amygdala isn’t fearful enough to cross the red line of firing either Rosenstein and Mueller. For now, he’s satisfied that his minions can weaken these men’s credibility enough to neuter their effectiveness.

For now.