The factions calling the special counsel’s fairness into question are laying the groundwork for either undermining Mueller’s conclusions or firing him. To pre-empt his possible removal, Congress should promptly pass bipartisan legislation to provide greater protections for the special counsel.

Where logic falls away amid the odious campaign to tarnish Mueller and his investigators — bolstered Tuesday by Trump’s latest “FBI TAINTED” tweet — is with the prospect that the president might well be innocent of wrongdoing.

Imagine if that’s true. If the Russia story is truly “fake news” and a “witch hunt,” as the president and his minions insist, why would they sling mud at the very people and institutions that would place their valuable imprimatur on such a conclusion? Why, you have to wonder, are they so worried about what Mueller’s investigation might reveal?