If all this happens, Washington would be apoplectic. There would be calls for Trump to step down. Republicans would distance themselves. He’d lose even more support in Congress. The press would rightly call it an abuse of power.

But one can imagine Trump thinking, so what? He’s lived through that movie numerous times already. Even Reince wanted him to quit the race just weeks before Election Day. And yet the bully-move almost always works, does it not? What are the real-world consequences Trump faced for doing all the things people told him he couldn’t do?

Impeachment? Unlikely, assuming Trump holds on to his base, which has stuck with him through all the other nightmares. A 25th Amendment removal? Good luck with that. The base sticks with him, the cable hosts defend him, Scaramucci goes out there with his Harvard Law degree and slickly explains how Mueller went beyond the confines of his investigation.