We cannot know for sure why President Donald Trump unleashed a volley of attacks on special counsel Robert S. Mueller III over the weekend. Perhaps he is edging toward an effort to remove Mueller. Or perhaps he is not — the White House Sunday night insisted he isn’t — and is instead merely trying to tar the probe in the minds of his voters, in preparation for dismissing any Mueller findings of serious misconduct as illegitimate.
But here’s what we do know: Most Republicans failed to seize this occasion to send a clear signal that any effort to remove Mueller will be met with serious consequences.