Hands off Rod Rosenstein
President Trump should keep the deputy attorney general on the job to protect the Mueller inquiry.
Three days after he reportedly went to the White House to turn in his resignation, Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod Rosenstein is finally set to meet with President Trump on Thursday to discuss his continued employment. The right course for Trump is clear: He should tell Rosenstein to remain on the job.
This might seem like counterintuitive advice. Rosenstein is probably the president’s second least favorite appointee at Justice — the least favorite being Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions, who enraged Trump when he rightly recused himself from any investigation related to the 2016 presidential campaign, which he served as a Trump adviser.
That set the stage for Rosenstein to take charge and name Robert S. Mueller III as a special counsel to investigate possible coordination between Russia and the campaign, an inquiry Trump has denounced as a “rigged witch hunt” even as Mueller has scored a string of guilty pleas and the conviction of Trump’s campaign chairman.
Rosenstein’s departure would clear the way for Trump to install a more pliable acting attorney general to supervise — or possibly subvert — Mueller’s investigation. So far, though, Trump has stayed his hand, possibly because removing Rosenstein would be viewed as a transparent attempt to obstruct justice.
Circumstances changed dramatically last week, however. The New York Times reported that shortly after assuming his post, Rosenstein suggested that he secretly record Trump and discussed recruiting Cabinet members to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove the president. Rosenstein called the story “inaccurate and factually incorrect.” Even so, alleged insubordination could give Trump a plausible pretext for getting rid of Rosenstein.
That would be a disaster. Rosenstein isn’t just Mueller’s protector; he has become a symbol of continuity and institutional integrity at Justice. Those qualities make it imperative that Rosenstein remain on the job, despite this latest controversy.
It’s conceivable that the Mueller investigation could proceed unimpeded under the direction of another official. But there’s no guarantee. Ominously, one of Trump’s personal attorneys suggested Monday that if the deputy attorney general resigned, there should be a “time out on this inquiry.” This is precisely the kind of outcome to be feared if Rosenstein is pushed out of the way.
Keeping Rosenstein on the job would be good for the country, but what’s in it for Trump? Simply this: Rosenstein’s departure would be widely viewed — including by many voters in the midterm elections — as a blow to the impartial administration of justice and the principle that the president is not above the law.