Trump won’t fire Rosenstein
Deputy attorney general gets reprieve after intense speculation about his future
President Donald Trump said Monday he has no plans to fire Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, delivering a reprieve for the Justice Department official whose future has been the source of intense speculation for two weeks.
Trump told reporters at the White House that he had “a very good relationship” with Rosenstein and was eager to speak with him aboard Air Force One on a flight to Florida for the International Association of Chiefs of Police conference. They did talk, for about 30 minutes, but not alone, a spokesman said later.
The flight provided an opportunity for their most extensive conversation since news reports last month that Rosenstein had discussed the possibilities in early 2017 of secretly recording Trump to expose chaos in the White House and invoking constitutional provisions to get him removed from office.
Those reports triggered an avalanche of speculation about the future of Rosenstein — and
also the special counsel’s investigation into possible co-ordination between Russia and the Trump campaign since the deputy
attorney general appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller to his post and closely oversees his work.
“I didn’t know Rod before, but I’ve gotten to know him,” Trump said at the White House. “I look forward to flying with him. It’ll be very nice.”
The Justice Department has denied that Rosenstein had proposed invoking the 25th Amendment of the Constitution and issued a statement that said the remark about recording the president was meant sarcastically.
Even so, Rosenstein told White House officials that he was willing to resign and arrived at the White House at one point with the expectation that he would be fired. He met in person with White House chief of staff John Kelly and spoke by phone with Trump during a tumultuous day that ended with him still in his job.
Rosenstein and Trump had been expected to meet at the White House days later, but that meeting was put off so that the president could focus on a confirmation hearing of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. It was not immediately clear if the flight would substitute for the pre-planned White House meeting.