The New York Times is reporting that in the weeks following the firing of James Comey, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein became so concerned about Donald Trump’s erratic behavior that he proposed an investigation that could lead to Trump being removed from office. According to sources within the Justice Department, Rosenstein offered to wear a wire so that he could secretly record Trump to provide information for meetings about whether the Cabinet should invoke provisions of the 25th Amendment, which allow a president “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office” to be removed.
Sitting in on Mr. Trump’s interviews with prospective F.B.I. directors and facing attacks for his own role in Mr. Comey’s firing, Mr. Rosenstein had an up-close view of the tumult.
Trump had presented a letter insisting that Comey be fired for failing to end the Russia investigation. That letter was short-circuited by the DOJ and the White House attorney, with Rosenstein stepping in to instead write Trump a report saying that Comey had been too harsh in his treatment of Hillary Clinton. That report was then cited by Trump in firing Comey … an excuse that lasted all the way until the first time that someone asked Trump why he fired Comey. Watching as Trump swung from irrational anger at Comey, to irrational anger at Sessions, to irrational anger at everyone, Rosenstein had a face-to-face view of not just a man unraveling under pressure, but the threat he represented to the nation.
Asked about the report, Rosenstein called the information “factually incorrect” and insisted that “there is no basis to invoke the 25th Amendment.” But he didn’t say that it wasn’t considered. The DOJ provided a statement admitting that yes, Rosenstein did propose wearing a wire to secretly record Trump, but that the proposal was “made sarcastically.”
Friday, Sep 21, 2018 · 7:37:38 PM +00:00
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Mark Sumner
The Washington Post now has an article up that is much less coy on the sources. It attributes the statement to the notes from McCabe, and says that another person present at the meeting “insisted the recording comment was said in a moment of sarcasm, and that the 25th amendment was not discussed.”
That puts not just the sourcing, but the reporting of the New York Times take on the incident in doubt.
But other sources quoted by the Times described Rosenstein as “serious” about the proposed investigation into Trump’s instability, and stated that the proposal had been followed by suggestions that other officials should also engage the hidden microphones. How could those present tell that Rosenstein was serious? Well …
One participant asked whether Mr. Rosenstein was serious, and he replied animatedly that he was.
The source for this information is described only as someone who “described his comments,” making it unclear if they were present or providing the information at a remove. The Times story makes mention of memos obtained from former acting FBI director Andrew McCabe, which may be the source of some of this information.
News that Rosenstein was discussing whether Trump needed to move from the White House to a white coat comes as Trump is attacking the FBI and DOJ daily in tweets, fuming at Attorney General Jefferson Sessions for recusing himself from the Russia investigation, and expanding his attacks on James Comey to include statements that he should have fired the FBI director months before taking office. Which seems exactly like the kind of behavior that might make people want to do a little testing, testing, testing. Yep, that’s good.
Don’t expect Trump to forget, forgive, or ignore this episode, though the effect may not be immediate. With tacit agreement from Republican Senators that Sessions can be dismissed the moment the polls close on the mid-terms, don’t expect Trump to either promote Rosenstein or leave him in a position to manage the Russia investigation.
Note: I’ve modified this story from the original report. Though the statement saying that Rosenstein was being sarcastic was cited as coming from “a person who was present when Mr. Rosenstein proposed wearing a wire” the contradictory statements are described only as coming from “others who described his comments.” That level of vagueness in the sourcing by the Times makes it impossible to evaluate the relative value of the competing statements.
Accordingly, I’ve added the word “reportedly” to the title and modified the description of some sources to make it clear that it’s unknown if they were actually present.