Will Trump believe McCabe or Rosenstein?
Deputy AG’s fate may lie in whose account the president chooses
WASHINGTON — The fate of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein could turn on whether President Donald Trump believes the account of an ex-FBI official who, as Trump once asserted in a tweet, had “LIED! LIED! LIED!”
Rosenstein discussed secretly recording Trump, though one person who was present at the time said Rosenstein was just being sarcastic, and reportedly suggested removing the commander in chief from office. Rosenstein issued a swift denial to both claims.
The revelation that the secondranking Justice Department official had even broached those ideas has created even more uncertainty for him at a time when Trump has railed against law enforcement leadership he has perceived as biased against him.
The president, at a Missouri rally Friday night, said there was a “lingering stench” at the Justice Department that “we’re going to get rid of.” He didn’t name names.
A key witness in the episode is Andrew McCabe, who was temporarily elevated to FBI director after Trump fired James Comey. McCabe documented conversations with senior officials, including Trump and Rosenstein, in memos that have been provided to special counsel Robert Mueller as part of the Trump-Russia investigation. Trump’s scorn for both
The discussion about possibly recording Trump occurred during a meeting with McCabe in May 2017 following Comey’s firing. Comey’s dismissal infuriated many rank-and-file agents, but the White House has said that decision was made on the Justice Department’s recommendation.
A memo from McCabe also describes Rosenstein as having discussed the potential removal of the president under the Constitution.
While Trump has publicly scorned Rosenstein, the president has been every bit as harsh toward McCabe, who was fired in March amid a watchdog investigation that concluded he repeatedly lied about his involvement in a news media disclosure.
Trump once called McCabe’s firing a “great day for democracy” and asserted without elaboration that McCabe knew all “about the lies and corruption going on at the highest levels of the FBI.” The inspector general’s findings have been referred to prosecutors for possible criminal charges.
Friday’s news reports raised the prospect that Trump could fire Rosenstein. Any dismissal could affect Mueller’s investigation into possible coordination between Russia and Trump’s presidential campaign. Rosenstein appointed Mueller and oversees his work.
Trump said at the Missouri rally that the Justice Department has some “great people” but also “some real bad ones.” He said the “bad ones” were gone, “but there’s a lingering stench and we’re going to get rid of that, too.” It was unclear to whom he was referring, and the White House did not respond to questions about Rosenstein’s remarks.
Rosenstein’s comments were first reported by the New York Times, which also said he raised the idea of using the 25th Amendment, which says 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. Rosenstein denied it.
“I never pursued or authorized recording the President and any suggestion that I have ever advocated for the removal of the President is absolutely false,” he said in a statement.
List of falsities
Comey and McCabe, once close associates at the FBI, have provided wildly divergent accounts about who knew what when regarding a 2016 Wall Street Journal story on an FBI investigation into the Clinton Foundation.
The inspector general’s office has accepted Comey’s account over McCabe’s in concluding that McCabe repeatedly lied to internal investigators under oath. McCabe denies that.
The Justice Department on Friday distributed a list of instances in which the inspector general said McCabe had made false statements in the past. The department also released an email from one attendee who said Rosenstein’s “statement was sarcastic and was never discussed with any intention of recording a conversation with the president.”