Trump can't fire Eric Schneiderman

Rarely mentioned in the Trump scandal coverage is the fact that Donald Trump did much of his business in New York state. The deeper the criminal investigation into Trump related matters go, the more information of interest to the New York state attorney general is likely to develop. And Trump can't fire Eric Schneiderman. As the New York Times reported last Deember:

 Mr. Schneiderman is seen by some as a possible backstop should the president exercise his pardon power to help those who might become ensnared in the investigation of possible Russian involvement in the 2016 presidential election being led by Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel. Federal pardons do not apply to violations of state law.

In the interview, Mr. Schneiderman would say little about his potential role as a criminal prosecutor in relation to the Trump administration, except that he hoped it would not come to that. Earlier this year, Mr. Schneiderman began a criminal inquiry focused on allegations of money laundering by Paul Manafort, Mr. Trump’s former campaign chairman. But his office stood down, at least temporarily, out of deference to the special counsel’s inquiry; the offices did not work together, his staff said.

“I have a lot of respect for the work the special counsel’s doing,” he said. “They’ve put together a terrific team.”

He added: “Just watching it from the outside, like everybody else, it seems like they’re doing a very thorough and serious job. I hope there’s not going to be any effort to derail them or shut them down.

“If that happens, we’ll do — as I think would be a genuine sentiment around the country — we’ll do whatever we can do to see that justice is done. But I hope we don’t have to face a problem like that.”