Special Counsel Robert Mueller has spent countless resources trying to determine whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to influence the presidential election. He’s come up with nothing. Is the probe is nothing more than a big fishing expedition to try to entrap the president?

Many Republicans have called for Trump to fire Mueller. If Trump does so, he may be able to shut down the probe. Former U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Joseph diGenova believes the probe should be closed since there was never any evidence of a crime that Mueller was tasked with looking into. “There must be a predicate crime that was committed to allow the appointment,” diGenova said on the Laura Ingraham show. “The Mueller probe was legally ill-founded. … It’s pretty clear there was no basis for the appointment of a special counsel.”

Democrats argue that firing Mueller would be an impeachable act of obstruction of justice.

Failing to Tell the Court

Last week, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, released a formerly classified memo revealing corruption at both the DOJ and the FBI. The agencies asked the FISA court for a warrant to spy on the Trump campaign. They failed to tell the court that the Clinton campaign and other Democrats were behind the dossier they used to justify the warrant. The FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance court) reviews requests to spy on American citizens and foreigners.

But Mueller is going ahead full force. He interviewed Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who recused himself from the investigation due to his contact with Russians, and former FBI Director James Comey. He is now talking to the White House about interviewing Trump.

Through the guilty pleas of campaign volunteer George Papadopoulos and former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, Mueller has established evidence of contacts between Russian officials and Trump campaign aides. However, evidence of the contacts does not mean evidence of criminal collusion. Flynn’s attorneys are reportedly seeking dismissal of all the charges. 

Mueller is also pursuing unrelated, financial misdealing charges against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his deputy, Rick Gates. Some believe this goes beyond the scope of what he was tasked to do.

Conflicts of Interest

The president cannot directly fire a Special Counsel. The rules governing the position allow the Attorney General to “remove a Special Counsel for misconduct, dereliction of duty, incapacity, conflict of interest, or for other good cause, including violation of Departmental policies.” It requires the counsel to have “a reputation for integrity and impartial decision making.”

Trump reportedly wanted to fire Mueller last June. Trump denies it. He reportedly backed down on firing Mueller after top White House counsel Donald McGahn threatened to quit.

Trump reportedly claimed that Mueller had conflicts of interest that could make him biased against the president. These would keep him from properly doing his job as the legislation requires. One incident was Mueller’s resignation from Trump’s golf club due to a dispute over fees. Another was that Mueller had recently worked for the same law firm that previously represented Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. The third was that Mueller had been interviewed to return as the F.B.I. director the day before he was appointed special counsel in May.

Another possible conflict of interest is that nine of the 16 attorneys on Mueller’s team contributed to Hillary Clinton or Democrats. Andrew Weissman, one of Mueller’s top deputies, attended Clinton’s election night party in New York City. He sent a gushing email to then-Acting Attorney General Sally Yates about her refusal to enforce Trump’s travel ban.

Yet another argument for Trump firing Mueller is that the actions revealed in the Nunes memo fall under the Special Counsel rules’ “other good cause.” If the probe began improperly, with biased information, the entire probe is tainted. That’s grounds to halt it.

Other Biased Empoyees

There are other biased employees at the DOJ and FBI, although most have since been removed or demoted. FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe stepped down last month. He allegedly told over a dozen other FBI agents that if they can take down Flynn, they will take down Trump. McCabe had a personal beef with Flynn and ties to Democrats.

Jeannie Rhee, hired by Mueller to work on the probe, served as a personal lawyer for Ben Rhodes. Rhodes is the former Obama advisor now caught up in the unmasking scandal. Mueller’s “right-hand man” on the Russia probe, lawyer Aaron Zebley, represented Clinton IT aide Justin Cooper. Cooper set up Clinton’s unsecure server and destroyed her old BlackBerries with a hammer.

Bruce G. Ohr, a senior DOJ lawyer, was demoted after it came out that he’d had contacts with the firm behind the Trump dossier. Ohr’s wife actually worked for the firm, Fusion GPS. The FBI removed its former No. 2 counterintelligence official, Peter Strzok, from the Mueller investigation in August after it came out that he’d sent thousands of texts bashing Trump and praising Clinton.

On the other hand, the fact Mueller is a Republican who served under George H. W. Bush weighs against the idea that he’s biased against Trump.

Another Saturday Night Massacre?

Presumably, Trump could repeal the special counsel rules and fire Mueller himself. But that would have look really bad.

The task more naturally falls to the Department of Justice. Since Attorney General Jeff Sessions has recused himself, the duty would go to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. Trump could direct Rosenstein to fire Mueller. But Rosenstein has defended Mueller’s performance. If Rosenstein refused to fire Mueller, and instead resigned, Trump could go down the chain at the DOJ until he finds someone who will do it.

Any of these actions could look like obstruction of justice. President Nixon fired independent special prosecutor Archibald Cox in the Saturday Night Massacre. Both his attorney general and deputy attorney general resigned in protest. He had to get Solicitor General Robert Bork to fire Cox.

Even if Trump managed to get someone at the DOJ to fire Mueller, that person could name a replacement special counsel. Archibald Cox’s successor, Leon Jaworski, was responsible for some of the most significant findings in the Watergate court proceedings. He labeled Nixon an “unindicted co-conspirator,” which did a lot of damage. Remember, a grand jury has already indicted former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort for conspiracy. And in any case, the Senate and House would continue their independent investigations.

Turning Things Messy

Mueller could challenge the firing in court, also turning things messy. However, Trump fired Comey as director of the FBI and there have been few ramifications. Trump asked Comey to stop investigating Flynn and the request did not lead to an investigation of the president for obstruction of justice.

While there may be a fair case to remove Mueller as special counsel, it may not be worth the costs. Many believe that Mueller may get a jury to indict Trump aides and family members like Donald Trump, Jr., and Jared Kushner. If he does, they believe, he could do great damage, even if he doesn’t go after the president directly.

Follow Rachel on Twitter at Rach_IC.