Trump meets Russia probe official
WASHINGTON, D.C.: President Donald Trump said on Monday (Tuesday in Manila) he will meet with his deputy attorney general to seek “transparency” over reports Rod Rosenstein once suggested remov-
oversees the Russia probe was
Rosenstein’s job has looked untenable since bombshell reports appeared last week, but a decision on his fate was apparently pushed back to Thursday, when the White House said the president would talk face-to-face with his Justice Department number two.
Speaking from the annual United Nations General Assembly,
with Rosenstein and that they would continue their conversation upon his return to Washington.
“We’ll be meeting at the White House and we will be determining what’s going on. We want to have transparency. We want to have openness. And I look forward to meeting with Rod at that time,” Trump said.
As deputy attorney general, Rosenstein plays a key role in overseeing the high-powered investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, which Trump calls a politically motivated “witch hunt.”
His departure — which would give the president an opportunity to replace him with a loyalist — would dramatically rock the probe into whether Russia conspired with Trump’s campaign to aid his 2016 shock presidential election victory.
Rosenstein was received early on Monday for a meeting at the White House by the chief of staff, John Kelly, with US media initially reporting that this might be the moment when he stepped down or was forced aside.
A statement subsequently issued by
nor put to rest the rumors, saying only that Rosensenstein and Trump had an “extended conversation to discuss the recent news stories.”
Those reports said Rosenstein suggested secretly recording Trump for evidence of White House dysfunction.
The White House said the two would meet on Thursday, at Rosenstein’s request.
Even prior to last week’s hugely embarrassing reports — which Rosenstein denies — Trump had frequently criticized him.
In a highly unusual policy for a US president, Trump regularly attacks the Justice Department and the FBI, claiming that they are biased against him in the Russia probe.
Just last Friday, Trump referred in a speech to supporters to a “lingering stench” at the Justice Department that he would soon eradicate.
Allies of the president say he is angered and frustrated by Mueller’s probe, which has resulted in multiple prosecutions and convictions of people close to Trump -- with the prosecutor’s targets inching ever higher up the chain.
The rancor between Trump and his own law enforcement bodies took an extraordinary turn last week with reports that Rosenstein suggested gathering evidence for use in removing Trump from power under a constitutional amendment for cases when a president is
TheNewYorkTimes and Washington Post reports were based on secret memos by a former FBI director.
Amid ever deepening paranoia and partisan division in Washington, some speculated the notes were leaked as a trap for Trump --
in charge of the Russia probe.