the person who carried out the order was robert bourque. >> nixon had a deal with richardson. >> sorrythis would be -- i mean if rosenstein could recuse himself but it would not be exactly a bourque situation he would dump this mess of having to do with an angry president and a complicated investigation into the president into the hands of rachel brand the associate attorney general who might none be too pleased to have that land in her lap. >> in an ideal trump world he would have the guy he made attorney general jeff sessions in charge of the whole game. he would be overseeing whatever was done in prosecution. all that stuff has built up since his firing effort ft in the real world trump would like to go back to i'm the boss. we both pick the fbi director. we have don't like him we get rid of him. i get to pick the next one. i decide whether there's a special counsel. there won't be a special counsel. i'm the boss and the a.g. is in charge. all this has gone haywire and trump's craziness. it's still not clear what he's afraid of but it's something. >> he can't make the investigation

she gets to be robert bourque. the pattern here is frighteningly clear, if trump decides he doesn't want to be prosecuted, is above the law, he peels off people. he's threatened more and will go after rosenstein, this is the news, more stuff from trump. >> well, it is evocative of the good old days. >> you do work for the post in the history of these matters. >> you remember that. on the saturday night massacre, nixon ordered his attorney general to fire the prosecutor archibald cox. he refused the person that carried out the order was robert bourque, then the solicitor general. >> he let him resign and fired him. >> you know the nuances. >> but this would be, if rosenstein could recuse himself, but it would not be exactly a bourque situation. he would sort of dump this stinking mess of having to deal with an angry president and a complicated investigation into the president into the hands of rachel brand, the associate attorney general who might be none too pleased to have that mess land in her lap instead of rose

and then robert bourque obeyed the president's order. and that was remembered when robert bourque 14 years later was nominated by president reagan to fill a supreme court vacancy and his nomination was defeated by a vote of 58-42. what happens in the firing of robert mueller be remembered for the rest of the lives of anyone who participates in that firing. technically, the president does not have the direct power to fire the special prosecutor. only the attorney general has that power. but since attorney general jeff sessions has recused himself from matters involving the special prosecutor's investigation of the trump administration's russian connections, the prosecutor to fire the special prosecutor now rests with deputy attorney general rod rosenstein, the man who appointed the special prosecutor. this evening we have been hearing many, many commentators say they just cannot imagine that president trump would have the special prosecutor fired. everyone who has said that is a very slow learner about the capacities of the trump administ

i said, well, bob bourque is here. >> the commander in chief finally found someone willing to carry outders. bourque fired cox and so ended what would be the saturday night massacre. >> the saturday night massacre was a sl to the american people that the president was putting himself above the rule of sxlau they demanded action. >> well, it's a hell of a history lesson. maybe the president ought to watch. >> definitely should watch. >> because i remember the closest thing to tweeting is doing something on a saturday night. i mean, what is the president of the united states doing on a saturday night that he's so excited by the prospect of being prosecuted that he has to fire everybody on a saturday night? that's the biggest way to make news. it shakes everything up. >> and i think that was a signal to the american people that something was really wrong. you had attorney general of the united states resign rather than carry out a presidential order. you had the deputy attorney general of the united states resign rather than carry out a presidential order. these are both republicans workin

eventually robert bourque fired the special pros kurter. in the end as long as rosenstein is not a subject of the investigation it seems like democrats want him to stay. there is this d.o.j. regulation that say you're the subject of ainvestigation you have to resign. that could take you to ra ched brand who's the number three but all the way down. >> to the congressman's point annie the president is tweeting in violation of his legal advice. all the folks i've heard they communicate a man who is obsessed. he can't let it go an focus on other things. is that a fair characterization? >> that's fair. no one but donald trump thinks the tweets are a bad a idea. everyone from his wife to his lawyers have tried to stop him. i think the real question just to the point about going down the line at the d.o.j. this problem is conflicting with another problem with the trump administration which is getting government positions fill and getting people confirmed. after rachel brand it should go to the solicitor general and then next in line five u.s. atto

. >> when richard nixon got robert bourque to fire cox in the watergate hearing it ratcheted things uphere was another special prosecutor more dogged than cox. >> they are claiming that he violates the clause of the constitution that prohibits a sitting incumbent president from receiving income from foreign countries. their argument is because he owns trump international hotel the old post office in washington, d.c. and foreign dignitaries stay there that's money in his pocket. he doesn't own the hotel. he owns shares of stock in a corporation that owns a portion of the hotel and that manages it. there is no impediment to that whatsoever. moreover for the state of maryland and district of columbia to sue donald trump they would have to show they were personally uniquely individually harmed by him and they can't show that. they just don't like him as president. >> bill: there is no case? >> no case. >> bill: everyone has a lawsuit these days. come on. enough to keep an army of lawyers. jeff sessions will testify tomorrow and waiting to see if it's in public or in private. answer that qu