SOURCES: ROSENSTEIN DISCUSSED SECRETLY TAPING TRUMP, INVOKING 25TH AMENDMENT
WASHINGTON — Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein discussed secretly recording President Donald Trump last year amid law enforcement concerns about chaos in the White House, according to people familiar with exchanges at the time. But one person who was present said Rosenstein was just being sarcastic.
Rosenstein’s comments were first reported by The New York Times, which also said that he raised the idea of using the 25th Amendment to remove Trump as unfit for office.
The conversation about the possible recording took place at a tense May 2017 meeting during the tumultuous period that followed Trump’s firing of FBI Director James Comey, a decision that dismayed many rank-and-file bureau agents and that the White House said was based on the Justice Department’s recommendation.
Among the participants at the meeting was Andrew McCabe, the FBI official who was temporarily elevated to director after Comey’s firing and who documented conversations with senior officials, including Rosenstein, in memos that have been provided to special counsel Robert Mueller as part of his Trump-Russia investigation.
Friday’s news reports threatened to cloud Rosenstein’s fate at the Justice Department, with some conservative commentators calling for him to be fired immediately. Any dismissal could affect Mueller’s Russia probe given that Rosenstein appointed Mueller and oversees his work.
Rosenstein called the Times story “inaccurate and factually incorrect.”
One of the people briefed on the conversation in question, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the confidential nature of the interaction, said it occurred during a moment of frustration between McCabe and Rosenstein.
Rosenstein was rankled by the revelation that Comey had kept memos about his interactions with the president; McCabe wanted a more aggressive approach toward the White House, the person said.
At that point, Rosenstein said to McCabe something to the effect of, “What do you want, you want me to wear a wire?” according to the person. Rosenstein was then asked in the meeting if he was serious, and he said yes, but he did not mean for the wire comment to be taken seriously as a tactic to investigate the president, the person said.
The person also said that a memo from McCabe describes Rosenstein as referencing the 25th Amendment to the Constitution, which spells out that a president can be declared “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office” upon a majority vote of the vice president and the Cabinet.
But the person said notes from other attendees at the meeting, including former FBI lawyer Lisa Page, do not mention the 25th Amendment.