Jonathan Chait: “The point is to establish legal accountability for the president. Well-functioning democracies don’t have criminal oligarchies running the country with legal impunity. The kind of deep systemic corruption Trump is implementing, in which establishing a political alliance with a ruling family is a key step in amassing and protecting wealth, depends on selective legal enforcement. More to the point, it requires business partners. Maybe Donald Trump can’t be hauled off to prison, but his partners can. And that prospect can scare off the collaborators Trump needs.”

“Second, and more to the point, even if Robert Mueller can’t kick Trump out of the White House directly and the Senate won’t, there’s a body of people who can: the 2020 electorate. And the Trump investigations are building a powerful case that will be brought to bear on that election.”

“For the longest time, the only person shielding Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen from Trump’s anger has been her friend and mentor — Chief of Staff John Kelly,” Axios reports.

“Sources close to Trump say he doesn’t think Nielsen is being aggressive enough at fulfilling his hardline immigration agenda. But more than that, Trump puts a lot of stock in personal chemistry. And once he’s decided he doesn’t have ‘chemistry’ with someone, it’s very hard for that person to come back from that.”

“Nielsen now lives in a land previously occupied by Jeff Sessions, H.R. McMaster and Rex Tillerson. Sources close to Trump say he appears to have made up his mind about getting rid of Nielsen. But senior staff don’t know who will replace her or what the timing of her removal will be.”

Politico: “Bottled-up hostility in President Trump’s administration flowed to the surface Tuesday during a remarkable 12-hour period following an awkward midterm détente and tense trip to Paris over which the president is still seething.”

“White House aides and advisers have long anticipated an internal staff reckoning once the uneasy truce broke and the dust settled after the elections. But some conceded that the drumbeat of exits, the threat of subpoenas from the Russia probe and anticipated investigations by a newly empowered Democratic House — along with a raft of negative media attention in recent days — were taking a heavy toll on not only the president, but also on the aides and advisers’ thinning ranks.“

Politico: “The appointment has drawn bipartisan criticism and led to questions about Whitaker’s qualifications and whether he would limit the investigation or bury its findings. The state of Maryland on Tuesday filed the first legal challenge seeking to overturn Whitaker’s appointment, while on Capitol Hill newly empowered House Democrats are already making plans to have the acting attorney general appear as one of their first witnesses when the next Congress launches in January.”

“The uproar over the appointment, which effectively removes Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein as Mueller’s primary supervisor, has put Whitaker in a difficult spot, trapped between setting off a political firestorm by clipping Mueller’s wings and angering a president intent on having him do just that.”

“Even Trump’s Justice Department is wavering about whether Whitaker will do the deed the president wanted him for.”