But Rosenstein’s fate, and that of the special counsel whom he appointed, is ultimately irrelevant. This is a secret that even Trump does not seem to have guessed. If Democrats win a majority in the House of Representatives, which seems likely, they plan to impeach Trump on any pretext, regardless of Mueller’s findings or lack of them. If Republicans maintain control of the Senate, which also seems likely, they will not remove Trump from office; he will remain in the White House, bloody but unbowed, on the charity of Mitch McConnell. This arrangement would suit both men fine. Congressional paralysis would not affect Trump.

Trump has, by his own lights, already made America great. Which of his toadies would dare suggest otherwise? The stock market has climbed precipitously, rising to heights of which Republicans had never dreamed. Taxes have been cut. The president, as I write this, is engaged not only in the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement but in fundamentally remaking the nature of our trade relationship with China, in bringing peace to the Korean Peninsula, in reversing the supposed failures of the Obama administration in Iran and in Eastern Europe. All of these things have been done, with the exception of the tax bill, without the help of Congress and with the horrible shade of Mueller looming over him.