SPARING THE ROD? WELL . . .
Status in limbo – along with fate of the Mueller probe
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein’s fate remained in limbo Monday amid a flurry of contradictory reports that he quit, offered to quit and was about to be canned.
Following several hours of media confusion, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that Rosenstein and President Trump had “an extended conversation” about reports that the deputy AG had talked about wearing a wire to record the president and mentioned invoking the 25th Amendment, which could lead to Trump’s removal from office.
Trump himself was noncommittal when asked about Rosenstein during a meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in New York.
“I spoke with Rod today and we’ll see what happens,” Trump said, adding that they would talk again when he returned to DC on Thursday — the same day as the scheduled hearing of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
If Rosenstein leaves, Solicitor General Noel Francisco (inset below), a Trump appointee and the highestranking Justice Department official confirmed by the Senate below Rosenstein, would be in line to take over special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe.
But if Rosenstein resigns, Trump could appoint anyone who had been confirmed by the Senate, under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998. The law is less clear about what would happen if Rosenstein is fired.
The third in line at the Justice Department woulduld typically be given the nod, but Associate Attorney Gen-General Rachel Brand quit earlier this year and her replacementment hadn’t been confirmed by the Senate.
If Francisco, 49, takes s over the Muller investigation, he could allow it to continue, narrow its scope or end it completely. Francisco has a long conservative pedigree, clerking for the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and serving in the department during the George W. Bush administration.
Trump’s lawyers have called for the special counsel’s investigation into Russian election interference to be put on hold if Rosenstein departs.
“If, in fact, Rod Rosenstein does end up resigning today, I think it clearly becomes necessary and appropriate [to] basically take a time-out on this inquiry,” attorney Jay Sekulow said on his radio show Monday.
Huckabee’s statement came after ABC News reported that Rosenstein met with Chief of Staff John Kelly at the White House — and then went back to work.
The guessing game began earlier when Axios reported that Rosenstein had told Kelly he was resigning because he believed he was about to be canned by Trump.
“He’s expecting to be fired,” so plans to quit first, the site reported.
But NBC News soon contradicted the Axios report, saying Rosenstein was not going to resign but would instead force Trump to fire him.
A third report, from Bloomberg, said Rosenstein had resigned and that his resignation had been accepted.
A year ago, Rosenstein spoke with other officials about invoking the 25th Amendment and wearing a wire during meetings with Trump, according a New York Times report last week.
He reportedly grew concerned about the president’s fitness for office after the firing of FBI Director James Comey.
Rosenstein has insisted he never wanted to tape Trump aand didn’t invoke the 25th Amendment.