Trump pushes pause on deciding Rosenstein’s fate
BRIDGEWATER, N.J. — As Air Force One streaked across the desert sky and Las Vegas faded in the distance, President Donald Trump began seeking opinions.
The TVS on the plane carried headlines about an explosive new story: Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had suggested wearing a wire to secretly record Trump and raised the idea of using the 25th Amendment to remove the president from office.
On the flights both to and from a Missouri rally, Trump polled staff on the plane and called his outside network of advisers.
The messages were mixed, but more were in favor of containing the urge to fire Rosenstein, a move that would declare open warfare with the Justice Department and cast doubt on the future of the special counsel’s Russia probe, according to two people familiar with the exchanges but not authorized to publicly discuss private conversations.
Trump, though telling confidants that he felt the moment was another example of the “Deep State” and media conspiring to undermine him, held off dismissing Rosenstein.
But the aftershocks of the story are rattling Washington still.
“He shouldn’t fire Rosenstein unless you believe Rosenstein’s lying. He says he did not do the things alleged,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., on “Fox News Sunday.”
“But there’s a bureaucratic coup against President Trump being discovered here. Before the election, the people in question tried to taint the election, tip it to (Hillary) Clinton’s favor. After the election they’re trying to undermine the president.”