Rod Rosenstein wants OUT! Deputy attorney general offers to resigns before Trump can fire him in wake of reports of his allegedly wanting to wiretap president, talks about 25th Amendment emerged
Deputy attorney general Monday offered his resignation to White House Chief of Staff, John Kelly
Rod Rosenstein reportedly was trying to get ahead of speculation he was going to be fired by Donald Trump for wanting to wiretap the president and talking about 25th Amendment
The White House allegedly declined Rosenstein’s was offer to quit Monday
He is scheduled to meet with the president on Thursdayamid concerns Trump would fire him
Rosenstein is in route to White House on Monday morning
Trump spoke to a fired-up crowd in Springfield, Missouri, on Friday night
The president told the crowd: ‘Just look at what is being exposed’ in Justice
‘We have great people in the Department of Justice. … But you’ve got some real bad ones. You’ve seen what’s happened at the FBI. They’re all gone,’ he said
But there’s a lingering stench and we’re going to get rid of that also’, he added
Rosenstein has strongly denied making any attempt to oust the president
Dep AG Rod Rosenstein left his Bethesda, Md., home en route to Washington Sept. 24 headed to the White House to meet with Chief of Staff John Kelly
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein verbally tendered his resignation to White house Chief of Staff John Kelly in anticipation of President Donald Trump will fire him, it was reported Monday.
‘He’s expecting to be fired,’ a source told Axios, which reported his firing. However, Rod Rosenstein is safe , at least for now.
The White House kicked the can on the longevity in office of the embattled deputy attorney general’s to Thursday after Monday swirl of rumors that he was expecting to be fired.
This was against the backdrop of contested media reporting that he considered wearing a wire to record President Trump and talked about invoking the 25th Amendment to remove him from office.
“At the request of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, he and President Trump had an extended conversation to discuss the recent news stories,” press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement. “Because the President is at the United Nations General Assembly and has a full schedule with leaders from around the world, they will meet on Thursday when the President returns to Washington, D.C.”
Rosenstein, who oversees the special counsel investigation into possible collusion between Trump’s campaign and the Russian government, was spotted at the White House earlier in the day where sources said he expected to be axed.
Dep. AG Rod Rosenstein [left] allegedly offered to resign, on Monday, but there appears to be a stay of execution on his fate till the end of the week
The New York Times last week reported that Dep. AG Rosenstein last year suggested secretly recording the president to raise the possibility of invoking the 25th Amendment to remove him from office.
The five articles charged Rosenstein of “high crimes and misdemeanors” for failing to produce information to several congressional committees, even though the department had already provided lawmakers with more than 800,000 documents about decisions made during the 2016 presidential campaign, and of signing off on what some Republicans say was improper surveillance of Trump adviser Carter Page.
Since his appointment, Rosenstein has been at the center of several Trump-related controversies.
The Newly appointed Dep. AG, early in the life of the Trump administration, wrote a memo that president Trump cited as recommendation for the firing of former FBI director Comey, a dismissal which itself is now part of Mueller’s probe.
“I am being investigated for firing the FBI Director by the man who told me to fire the FBI Director!” Trump tweeted last summer, apparently referring to a memo Rosenstein wrote that was critical of Comey’s leadership at the FBI.
“Witch hunt,” Trump added.
In the event of Rosenstein’s departure, United States Solicitor General Noel Francisco [photo], will oversee the Russia probe headed by special counsel, Bob Mueller
Had the administration accepted Rosenstein’s resignation, Noel Francisco, the solicitor general, would have inherited oversight role on Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s expansive Russia probe.
The rest of Rosenstein’s duties, however, would have been passed to Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ chief of staff, Matthew Whitaker, serving in an acting capacity deputy AG.
A federal law called the Vacancies Act directs the president to fill power vacuums in executive branch agencies when officials quit or die – at least until a Senate-confirmed replacement can take over.
New Dep AG: Current DOJ Chief of Staff Matt Whitaker [right], would have stepped into Rosenstein’s shoes in acting capacity
Trump has reportedly has long resented the role of the Attorney General, who assumed oversight of the Russia probe following the recusal of Attorney General Jeff Sessions. The by the book public servant appointed special counsel Robert Mueller to lead the investigation shortly after Trump fired then-FBI director James Comey last May.
As Mueller’s team indicted scores of Russians alleged to have been part of a massive conspiracy to sway the 2016 election in Trump’s favor and worked out plea deals with almost half a dozen former Trump campaign officials and aides on a variety of charges, Trump barely contained his anger and disappointment with ‘his’ Justice Department, incessantly sniping at AG Jeff Sessions and his deputy, Rosenstein
The president has repeatedly lashed out at Sessions and Rosenstein on Twitter and alleged that the DOJ and FBI are havens of the deep state political agenda. The President also fumed after Michael Cohen, his former personal attorney, pleaded guilty to tax and bank fraud as well as implicating Trump in a plot to pay off women to keep quiet about alleged affairs they had with the one-time reality TV star.
Rosenstein’s remove are expected to have immediate implications on the Mueller investigation.
Rosenstein a career DOJ staffer rose through the ranks of the Justice Department after being nominated by President George W. Bush to serve as the U.S. Attorney for Maryland in 2006.
Trump supporters on Capitol Hill have long sparred with Rosenstein over access to information about the Russia investigation. In the summer, House Republicans moved to bring articles of impeachment against Rosenstein over the summer.
President Donald trump has not hidden his disappointment with the Justice Department, he feels are not doing enough to protect him
The five articles charged Rosenstein of “high crimes and misdemeanors” for failing to produce information to several congressional committees, even though the department had already provided lawmakers with more than 800,000 documents about decisions made during the 2016 presidential campaign, and of signing off on what some Republicans say was improper surveillance of Trump adviser Carter Page.
Since his appointment, Rosenstein has been at the center of several Trump-related controversies.
A memo written by the newly appointed Dep AG, early in the life of the Trump administration was cited as the justification for Trump firing former FBI director Jim Comey, a dismissal which now part of Mueller’s probe for possible obstruction of justice.
“I am being investigated for firing the FBI Director by the man who told me to fire the FBI Director!” Trump tweeted last summer, apparently referring to a memo Rosenstein wrote that was critical of Comey’s leadership at the FBI.
“Witch hunt,” Trump added.
Trump fired Comey in May 2017, citing the Rosenstein memo.
According to the White House, Trump met with both Rosenstein and Sessions, who told their boss then they had concerns about the agency’s director.
Trump requested that the two “put that recommendation in writing,” according to the White House. That prompted Rosenstein to offer a formal recommendation to Trump that Comey be fired because he mishandled the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails. Trump later said in a now infamous interview with NBC that he planned to get rid of Comey regardless of any recommendation.
But the ouster led Rosenstein to name Mueller as the head the federal investigation into Russian election meddling, coupled with Sessions’ recusal.
Rosenstein, seen [right in photo with Trump in May] disputed that account on Friday, and a Justice Department official who was reportedly in the room when Rosenstein talked about using the 25th Amendment to end the Trump presidency says he was being sarcastic
While Mueller has been tasked with running the investigation, Rosenstein was responsible for making decisions about adding resources or personnel to the probe and whether prosecutions should be pursued.
If Rosenstein is fired, those duties fall to Solicitor General Noel Francisco, an ultra-conservative Trump appointee who, much like his boss in the Oval Office, has spoken out about bias in the FBI.
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