On Wednesday, January 9, multiple news outlets reported that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein plans to voluntarily resign in the coming weeks.
Rosenstein’s departure, combined with the potential confirmation of President Donald Trump’s attorney general nominee Bill Barr, throws the future of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation into question.
Remember: It was Rosenstein who appointed Mueller as special counsel back in May 2017, and he oversaw the probe for many months. Mueller had to run major investigative decisions past him.
But Trump privately mused about firing Rosenstein (and other Justice Department officials) for a while, and back in November he finally made some moves — giving Jeff Sessions the boot and replacing him with Matthew Whitaker, who has described Mueller’s investigation as a “witch hunt.”
If Barr (who has also expressed deep suspicion of the probe) is confirmed, another Trump loyalist will join the team. Rosenstein’s apparently voluntary exit suggests he believes the investigation will be safe under his successor, but as of now, that’s unclear.
Trump has lined up his pick for deputy attorney general
Jeffrey A. Rosen, Trump’s pick for deputy AG. Department of Transportation/APPresident Donald Trump has lined up his next pick for deputy attorney general: Jeffrey A. Rosen.
The White House announced Tuesday that Rosen, who’s currently serving as the deputy transportation secretary, is Trump’s choice to replace Rod Rosenstein as the No. 2 official at the Department of Justice.
Read Article >Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein is reportedly headed out the door. What does it mean for Mueller?
Rod Rosenstein. Win McNamee/GettyDeputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who appointed Robert Mueller as special counsel to oversee the Russia investigation, plans to step down from his post in the coming weeks, according to new reports from ABC News and NBC News.
Both reports stress that Rosenstein’s decision to leave the administration is voluntary, and that he plans to wait to do so until a new attorney general is confirmed. Trump’s AG nominee, Bill Barr, will face his Senate confirmation hearings next week.
Read Article >Meet Noel Francisco, the man who could oversee the Mueller probe after Rosenstein
Solicitor General Noel Francisco on Capitol Hill in May 2017. Mark Wilson/Getty ImagesPresident Donald Trump and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein are set to meet on Thursday, according to the White House, after a flurry of reports on Monday indicating that Rosenstein was considering or had offered to resign.
The origin of the latest drama lies in an explosive New York Times report that says Rosenstein suggested to other FBI officials that they secretly record Trump “to expose the chaos consuming the administration” and considered invoking the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office.
Read Article >Conservatives are skeptical of the New York Times’s Rod Rosenstein story
US Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein (R) attend the Second Annual Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service in Policing at the Department of Justice in Washington, DC, September 18, 2018. Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images“Proceed with caution” is the warning many conservatives are heeding after they seemingly got a massive boon on Friday afternoon. That’s when New York Times reporters Adam Goldman and Michael Schmidt released an exclusive story alleging that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein — whom President Donald Trump has privately mused about firing for some time — had spoken with other Justice Department officials about secretly recording Trump and invoking the 25th Amendment to remove him from office. The conversation allegedly happened in the immediate wake of FBI Director James Comey’s firing.
Rosenstein denied the allegations, calling them “inaccurate and factually incorrect,” while reporters from the Washington Post allege, based on reporting from other sources who were in the room, that Rosenstein was being sarcastic when he made the reported statements.
Read Article >Hannity’s surprising advice to Trump on Rosenstein: “Under zero circumstances should the president fire anybody”
Sean Hannity interviews Donald Trump ahead of a campaign rally in Las Vegas, Nevada, in September 2018. Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty ImagesSean Hannity has a perhaps surprising take on a report that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein suggested secretly taping President Donald Trump and invoking the 25th Amendment to remove him from office: It’s a trap.
The Fox News host — who reportedly speaks with the president as often as daily — reacted in Friday’s episode of his show, Hannity, to a report from Adam Goldman and Michael Schmidt at the New York Times that Rosenstein broached the idea last year after FBI Director James Comey was fired. The report appeared to be based, in part, on memos written by former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe.
Read Article >The Times’s big new Rod Rosenstein story has major implications for Mueller’s probe
Javier Zarracina/VoxDid Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein seriously suggest to top Justice Department officials last year that someone should secretly tape President Donald Trump?
Or did he make an obviously sarcastic comment that he never intended anyone take seriously?
Read Article >Rosenstein is the only person between Trump and Mueller. He may soon be gone.
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein’s ouster may be imminent after a September 21, 2018, New York Times report. Drew Angerer/Getty ImagesDeputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has found himself in the middle of a political firestorm, and it’s possible he’ll be entirely consumed by it.
On Friday, the New York Times reported that Rosenstein had suggested last year that he and others secretly record President Donald Trump in an effort to remove him from office through a provision of the 25th Amendment. Rosenstein denies that he did that, and one source told the Times that Rosenstein made the suggestion in jest.
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