The counsel’s office had hoped Trump would move on, too, after the Senate trial and the president would focus on reelection, the economy or the business of governing, now that he no longer faced the intense pressure of impeachment and the sense that Democrats were out to hurt him and his family.

But Trump had his own ideas. In the days since that acquittal he has engaged in a full-bore revenge victory lap. Now the lawyers, who helped to secure that big victory, are watching the emboldened president push the boundaries of their profession in ways that could reshape the office of the presidency for decades to come…

In meetings with senior staff in recent weeks, Trump has asked repeatedly for updates on the Durham investigation into pre-election federal probes of Trump and has expressed frustration it’s not moving along at a faster clip. He wants anyone associated with the origins of the Mueller investigation to be brought to justice.

Some of the questions raised by the impeachment proceedings about the scope of executive authority remain undecided — and will be heard by the courts this spring. “In the short term, the acquittal was a win for presidential power. It strengthened the hand of the presidency and showed you can stonewall and not turn over anything, but that doesn’t mean it will hold,” said one former senior administration official. “So much of it will end up getting sorted out in the courts.”