A former FBI special agent revealed what will happen if the new acting attorney general attempts to fire special counsel Robert Mueller.
After tweeting that she's "honestly not panicking" about newly-appointed Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker taking over the Mueller probe, former FBI official and CNN analyst Asha Rangappa explained her reasoning.
"To be clear, I do NOT think this is an ideal situation," Rangappa wrote in a Twitter thread.
Whitaker, the analyst noted, has on multiple occasions been public about his critical opinions on the Mueller investigation.
"This clearly creates an appearance of a conflict of interest," she wrote. "He must consult with the ethics people as his former boss did and, if it is warranted, recuse. Period."
His comments about the Russia probe took place when he was a pundit, Rangappa noted — but the Justice Department has "a very strong culture" of not allowing their opinions to affect their decisions.
"As a former [US attorney], Whitaker knows this culture," she wrote.
Any major decisions he makes as acting attorney general, Rangappa continued, will need to be documented.
"The standard in the Special Counsel regulations for denying a request or recommendation of the Special Counsel is that it is 'so inappropriate or unwarranted under established Departmental practices that it should not be pursued,'" the former FBI agent wrote.
With Democrats soon to take over the House of Representatives following the midterm elections, Whitaker has to know that "he would have to testify to them under oath."
"Flimsy or corrupt justifications would open him up to obstruction of justice," Rangappa noted.
The CNN analyst then pointed to another speculative claim made about Whitaker becoming acting attorney general: that he could "starve" the Mueller investigation financially.
Per DOJ regulations, Rangappa wrote, "the budget for the coming year must be approved within 90 days of the fiscal year."
"The fiscal year already started on October 1," she noted, meaning the budget is in place until September 2019 and the next approval won't take place until June of 2019.
Whitaker opined that Mueller looking into Donald Trump's finances is a red line, but as Rangappa pointed out, the special counsel didn't actually take on the president's finances himself and instead referred it to the Southern District of New York.
Read the rest of her thread below: