Rachel Maddow unveils Trump's 'secret permission slip' that may lead to the end of the Mueller probe

With the GOP all-but-sanctioning Donald Trump's plan to fire Attorney General Jeff Sessions after the midterm elections next week, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow unveiled that the latest nefarious Trump administration maneuvering.

When and if Sessions is fired or resigns, the host noted, the next in line to lead the Justice Department is Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein — the man who is already leading the special counsel probe after the attorney general recused himself from the investigation and drew the president's ire.

But if the embattled deputy AG is also ousted, that leaves Solicitor General Noel Francisco — a man with significant conflicts of interest when it comes to Robert Mueller — to lead the DOJ.

It was previously reported that Francisco's previous work at the prestigious Jones Day law firm was in direct conflict to the Mueller probe because the firm represents the Trump campaign in the investigation.

As the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) government watchdog organization revealed Friday, however, the White House issued a previously-unpublished exemption waiver to typical ethics rules that allows Francisco to work on the Mueller investigation.

"In April of thisyear, the Trump White Houseissued a secret permission slipto Solicitor General NoelFrancisco which excuses him fromthe ethics rules that wouldotherwise block him from beinginvolved in any legal matterinvolving the law firm at whichhe was a partner," Maddow said. 

The White House normally publishes a list of exemption waivers like the one granted to the solicitor general, but his is absent from that online list, a fact "which is itself a story," Maddow noted.

"We can now see for the first time that the Trump White House has beenmaneuvering so if Rod Rosensteinis fired or quits, the guy fromthe law firm that isrepresenting the Trump campaignin the Russia investigation willbe allowed to oversee, to takeover the whole Russiainvestigation," the host said.

Watch below via MSNBC: