In April 1973, Nixon persuaded Richardson, his defense secretary, to switch departments and become the attorney general. A retelling of the episode, adapted from “The Final Days,” as we called our book on the president’s last year, can illuminate the stakes. Nixon didn’t know it at the time, but the Saturday Night Massacre would become a pivot point in his presidency – crucial to the charge that he’d obstructed justice. We covered that eerily similar confrontation for The Washington Post 45 years ago. No wonder many people are making comparisons to the Saturday Night Massacre of 1973, when President Richard Nixon fired special prosecutor Archibald Cox, and Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus resigned. He constantly complains about the investigation in private and reportedly asked his White House counsel to have Mueller fired. President Donald Trump insists it’s all a “witch hunt” and an unfair examination of his family’s personal finances. Special counsel Robert Mueller’s mission is a comprehensive look at Russian meddling in the 2016 election – and any other crimes he uncovers in the process. A powerful and determined President is squaring off against an independent investigator operating inside the Justice Department.
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