Memos say Rosenstein wanted to secretly record Trump
Memos written by Andrew McCabe when he was the acting FBI director say that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein suggested he secretly record his talks with President Donald Trump and that Rosenstein discussed possibly trying to remove Trump from office, according to people familiar with the matter.
The account paints Rosenstein as so concerned in May 2017 in the wake of Trump’s firing of FBI Director James Comey that he contemplated secretly recording conversations with the president. He also initiated discussions about invoking the 25th Amendment, which details how the Cabinet can decide whether a president is no longer able to discharge the duties of the office, one of the McCabe memos said.
The revelations immediately prompted speculation that Trump might seize on the new information to fire Rosenstein, who oversees special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe.
The saga features two of the president’s biggest targets for public criticism, McCabe and Rosenstein, both of whom he blames for an investigation he calls a “witch hunt.” In this instance, McCabe’s memos offer an extraordinary account of Rosenstein’s thinking at a difficult time in the Justice Department and could give Trump fresh ammunition to move to oust Rosenstein.
On Tuesday, book publisher St. Martin’s Press announced McCabe will publish “The Threat: How the FBI Protects America in the Age of Terror and Trump,” joining a list of ex-government officials to release Trump-related books.