The 4 most likely outcomes of Robert Mueller's investigation

Is the president cooked or off the hook?

Trump leaves the White House at night
(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Cold reality is setting in for the GOP: The only thing standing between a serious electoral setback and a truly historic shellacking in November might be Special Counsel Robert Mueller's sprawling investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 elections.

It's easy to lose sight of this in the day-to-day Choose Your Own Misadventure cacophony of the Trump White House, but the Mueller investigation really is a guillotine blade set to decapitate the administration and congressional Republicans at any moment over the next six months. The White House knows it, which is probably why the president is yelling into the Twitter void about tariffs and trade wars as senior aides continue to disappear back into the private sector with the names of expensive lawyers stenciled on their palms. At this rate, the Trump administration is going to be like some sitcom that replaces every single cast member except the star and dares you not to notice.

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David Faris

David Faris is an associate professor of political science at Roosevelt University and the author of It's Time to Fight Dirty: How Democrats Can Build a Lasting Majority in American Politics. He is a frequent contributor to Informed Comment, and his work has appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times, The Christian Science Monitor, and Indy Week.