How the courts — not Congress — could protect Mueller’s investigation

By David Ignatius
Opinion writer
April 3

If President Trump fires special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, that won’t necessarily be the end of his investigation. Power to continue the inquiry, and report on its findings, could also rest with Beryl A. Howell , who, as chief judge of the U.S. District Court in Washington, oversees the Mueller grand jury.

To prepare for the crisis that Mueller’s firing would cause, Howell should review plans made by John J. Sirica, her predecessor as chief judge, to deal with the firing of special Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox in October 1973. Sirica intended to install a new special counsel to complete the work of two Watergate grand juries.

Sirica recalled his deliberations in his 1979 memoir, “To Set the Record Straight: The Break-in, the Tapes, the Conspirators, the Pardon.” After President Richard Nixon ordered Cox’s dismissal in the famous “Saturday Night Massacre,” Sirica wrote, “my first concern was that the grand juries be protected.” He summoned the jurors three days after the firing and admonished them: “These two grand juries will continue to function and pursue their work. .?.?. You must steadily and deliberately pursue your investigations.”

But who would present evidence once Cox was gone? Sirica had an answer for that. He would appoint the new special counsel, acting on his authority as chief judge. He rebuffed an intervention by public-interest lawyer John F. Banzhaf III seeking to reverse Cox’s firing, and made a bold affirmation of his judicial power:

...