Staff photo by C.B. Schmelter / Cary Garrett, left, blows up a small "Baby Trump Balloon" as Leslie Thomasson adjusts her balloon during a MoveOn "No One is Above the Law" protest at Miller Park in Chattanooga last week. The protestors gathered to voice objections to President Trump's appointment of Matt Whitaker as acting U.S. Attorney General.The 'lawless' Trump administration
To describe President Donald Trump's replacement for the forced-out Attorney General Jeff Sessions, we believe Americans should dust off the favorite GOP adjective for anything President Obama did that Republicans didn't like - which was everything.
The adjective?
Lawless.
Actually, it has - and probably will continue to - fit into any sentence about Trump. Immigration policy? Check. Transparency? Check.
Now it seems it also may apply to Trump's decision to replace Sessions with acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker.
Two prominent attorneys - including the husband of White House counselor Kellyanne Conway - are suggesting that Whitaker's appointment may be illegal. Attorneys Neal Katyal and George Conway, in an op-ed published in the New York Times last week, say the Constitution requires that anyone serving as attorney general be confirmed by the Senate.
The White House maintains that the Vacancies Reform Act gives the president the power to choose a temporary replacement for attorney general (as long as the attorney general was not fired).
But Katyal and Conway disagree. They say the Constitution dictates that anyone serving in a "principal role" must be confirmed by the Senate.
What's more, multiple legal experts and former Justice Department officials have told Axios they can't remember a similar case in which someone not confirmed by the Senate has been named as acting attorney general. The experts have different interpretations of the laws, but they agreed that the naming of Whitaker is "uncharted legal territory" and leaves room for challenges to the legality - and constitutionality - of Trump's actions.
Why split hairs?
So what? you ask. Well, the Russia probe - that's what.
The Associated Press reported last week that Trump, who continues to call the Russia probe of special counsel Robert Mueller a "hoax," abruptly altered the chain of command above Mueller, putting his work under the supervision of Whitaker - a Republican loyalist who has been openly skeptical of the special counsel's authority and who has mused about ways to curtail Mueller's power.
Mueller's probe until now had been overseen by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who appointed Mueller last year and granted him fairly broad authority. Rosenstein is Senate confirmed and is the No. 2 man in the Justice Department. As such, he traditionally should have been tapped as acting director.
The Mueller investigation so far - that we know of - has produced 32 criminal charges and six guilty pleas. Four of those guilty pleas are from Trump aides, including his campaign manager, personal lawyer and national security adviser. Among the indicted are 26 Russian nationals and three Russian companies.
That's a pretty good track record for a so-called "hoax."
Protect Mueller protests spring up
But Americans aren't fooled: They know what is at stake.
Tens of thousands of protesters nationwide - in Chattanooga, too (check out the photo above) - spent Thursday evening decrying President Trump's removal of Sessions and urging the protection and independence of special counsel Robert Mueller.
Those gathered here and in cities and towns from Boston to Houston to Seattle said Trump "crossed a red line" when he picked Whitaker as acting attorney general after demanding and receiving Sessions' resignation.
The progressive group MoveOn.org organized what it said were hundreds of "Protect Mueller" protests outside city halls and federal courthouses, in parks and on downtown streets and university grounds.
What remains to be seen is whether the still-majority GOP Congress will take notice. Or whether any groups will take legal action to challenge Trump and Whitaker.
Can anyone say constitutional crisis?