Thursday night’s breaking news from CNN about Robert Mueller pressing to get Rick Gates’ help in investigating possible Trump campaign contact with the Russians may prove to be important—very.

Important because, if true, it is a potentially strong indication—the strongest indication yet—of what Mueller sees and has been seeing as the heart of his mission as Special Counsel (in effect, a Special Prosecutor).  That is, proving that the Trump campaign and/or Trump himself did or did not illegally work with the Russians for a Presidential election victory.

The Russians mucked around in the Presidential election; that’s a fact.  That the Trump campaign worked with them has long been suspected but has not been established beyond a reasonable doubt.  That could be collusion.  One popular theory—especially among Republicans—has been that Mueller perhaps has been trying hardest to build, at most, a case for obstruction of justice. This new report may indicate otherwise.

And then there is this: President Trump has been itching to get rid of Mueller and shut down the whole investigation. But fearing a backlash from the public and at least some elements of the Republican Party, Trump hasn’t made the move.  But this latest news isn’t going to make him feel any more peaceful about what Mueller is doing and what Mueller sees as his core mission.

Rightly or wrongly, many people are going to see this latest report as increasing odds that Trump will get Mueller fired, sooner than later.
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Historical context:

In the background is the 1970s case of then President Nixon.  Nixon suddenly fired the Special Prosecutor who was investigating Watergate crimes (an action known as “The Saturday Night Massacre.”)  That backfired massively on Nixon, both with the public and with many Republican leaders who previously supported Nixon.  It turned out to be the beginning of the end for Nixon.