Well, so much for this idea that special counsel is this rabid Clinton plant, out to unfairly persecute (that’s persecute, not just prosecute) Donald Trump.

In fact, it would appear that Mueller is every bit the standup, by-the-book agent of the law that those who have actually interacted with him claim him to be.

And yes, I get that Trump’s loyalists will howl over this one.

Just sit on your MAGA rage for a bit, however, until you hear what is being reported, now.

Apparently, Mueller wants to keep this investigation on the up-and-up, so much so that to avoid the appearance of partisan bias, he released a veteran FBI agent for that very thing.

According to a story with the New York Times, when Mueller discovered that one of the agents on the Russia investigation, an agent named Peter Strzok, may have favored Hillary Clinton, he had him reassigned to the FBI’s human resources department.

Strzok is a veteran FBI investigator who previously worked on the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server while she was secretary of State, as well as the investigation into potential connections between President Trump’s campaign and Russian officials.

The removal was prompted by an investigation by the Justice Department’s inspector general into text messages the agent sent that could have possibly contained negative comments about Trump.

The agent reportedly exchanged text messages with FBI lawyer Lisa Page, whom he was dating, during the campaign and Clinton investigation that appeared to support the Democratic presidential candidate, people with knowledge of the matter told The Washington Post.

Does partisanship mean he couldn’t serve on the investigation and do so in an impartial manner?

Not necessarily, but apparently, Mueller wasn’t taking chances.

“Immediately upon learning of the allegations, the Special Counsel’s Office removed Peter Strzok from the investigation,” Mueller spokesman Peter Carr told The Hill. “Lisa Page completed her brief detail and had returned to the FBI weeks before our office was aware of the allegations.”

Of course, Trump’s loyalists will only be appeased by the end of the investigation, but if Mueller is willing to take these steps, it takes some of the starch out of their claims of some sort of partisan vendetta against Trump.