Rob Rosenstein is an unsung hero. And firing him could be WORSE than firing Mueller.

DT could fire Rosenstein on Friday and immediately replace him with a temporary A.G. from inside or outside the government who could derail or even halt the investigation. But by retaining Mueller as a figurehead, the new supervisor could keep up the APPEARANCE of a real investigation, while hamstringing Mueller at every step -- instead of supporting him, as Rosenstein has been doing.

Some people continue to blame Rosenstein for writing the memo, but he has been a stalwart supporter of Mueller's investigation. My personal opinion is that when he was asked to write the memo, he went to Comey and together they decided the course of action that resulted in Comey being fired and Rosenstein -- who was then trusted by Trump -- appointing Mueller.

Now, instead of firing Mueller, Trump could instead fire the less popular, less well-known Rosenstein. The replacement would be supervising Mueller and could shut down the investigation or limit it as he chose. And if Trump made a recess appointment -- like over the Christmas break -- the person wouldn't even need to be confirmed, and could come from inside or outside government. By the time a new Deputy AG was confirmed, the whole investigation could be over.

This is probably why DT says so confidently that he's not going to fire Mueller. He won't. He's firing Rosenstein.

https://www.justsecurity.org/49847/its-worse-trump-fire-rosenstein-fire-mueller/

All eyes are on what Donald Trump will do, as the oracles on Twitter and the Hill have predicted that the president may fire Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller around the holidays. Trump’s lawyers have denied that he is considering such a move, and Trump himself has not directly criticized Mueller. However, Trump has recently expressed dissatisfaction with Deputy Attorney General (DAG) Rod Rosenstein, calling him “weak” and a threat. Along with those comments, the Washington Post reports that “Trump appeared to be contemplating changes in the Justice Department’s leadership.” In short, there’s a good chance that the guillotine is poised for Rosenstein, not for Mueller – and if so, that is cause for even greater concern for all who care about the integrity of the Russia investigation and, yes, the rule of law.

SNIP

Rosenstein is effectively Mueller’s boss. Although under the Special Counsel regulations Mueller does not have to report to Rosenstein day to day, he does need to check in with the DAG three months before the end of the fiscal year with a status report on the progress of the investigation, and Rosenstein has the power to “determine whether the investigation should continue.” Separately, Rosenstein has the power to require Mueller to “provide an explanation for any investigative or prosecutorial step,” and can prevent Mueller from pursuing any action if, in his view, he believes that it is “inappropriate or unwarranted” under departmental practices. If he does so, he must report this decision to both the Senate and House Judiciary Committees. The fact that, six months into Mueller’s appointment, no such report has been made and Mueller continues to take significant investigative and prosecutorial steps (including, most recently, obtaining tens of thousands of transition team emails from the General Services Administration) suggests that Rosenstein is on board with the breadth, scope, and direction in which Mueller is taking the investigation.

Removing Rosenstein and replacing him with a DAG who is at the very least more sympathetic to Trump could have drastic repercussions on the investigation. The new DAG could burden the Special Counsel with a requirement to provide an explanation for every move he makes, and then decide that they aren’t necessary or appropriate. In fact, since Mueller is required to provide the DAG with at least three days’ notice in advance of any “significant event” in the investigation, she would have plenty of time to intervene and challenge Mueller’s actions (and a less scrupulous DAG could even leak Mueller’s plans to the White House or others). A new DAG would even have the ultimate—er, trump card: she could decide at some point that the investigation should not even continue at all.

SNIP

And while it’s true that any permanent replacement for the DAG position would be required to go through a Senate confirmation hearing, Rosenstein would in the meantime be replaced by someone else. One path would involve turning next to the attorney who’s next in line at DOJ, Rachel Brand. Brand may of course continue Rosenstein’s efforts, but since she didn’t personally appoint Mueller and has implicit notice that her own job is on the line, holding as steady as Rosenstein has so far would require withstanding extraordinary pressure. None of us truly know how a person will operate under such conditions. Other paths available to the president include finding a Senate-confirmed official somewhere in the administration (Trump would not be restricted to picking someone from DOJ) under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, or an admittedly longer shot but picking anyone inside or outside of government to serve as Acting DAG as a recess appointment if the Senate is out of session for 10 days in a row.