President Donald Trump risks plunging his administration into political calamity ahead of a crucial midterm election and deepening his legal jeopardy if he takes the drastic step of firing Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
A decision to remove the man investigating his 2016 campaign’s ties to Russia could paralyse his administration, alienate some of his supporters and force even Republican allies in Congress to either tie themselves to the president or abandon him.
In that instance, Democrats almost surely would amplify the drumbeat toward impeaching Trump -- so far mostly the province of the party’s liberal flank -- and if Trump persisted in