Since Jeff Sessions recused himself, Rod Rosenstein has been a thorn in the side of Donald Trump. Rosenstein wrote the memo used to terminate James Comey and then immediately turned around and appointed Robert Mueller to investigate the phony Russian collusion accusations which now we know to be false and are the fabrications of the Clinton campaign in conjunction with the FBI.
Some time ago it was reported that Rosenstein offered to wear a wire to record Donald Trump and is alleged to have discussed invoking the 25th Amendment:
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein proposed secretly recording conversations in the Oval Office with President Trump last year and discussed the possibility of Cabinet officials invoking the 25th Amendment to remove the president, according to a New York Times report.
The bombshell story sparked a political firestorm Friday afternoon, prompting an immediate denial from the Justice Department and sparking calls from conservative circles for Trump to fire his No. 2 law enforcement official.
The Times, citing people familiar with the matter, reported on Friday that Rosenstein made comments to other Justice Department officials in meetings in spring 2017 about secretly recording Trump after the president fired FBI Director James Comey that May.
Rosenstein has strenuously denied the assertion, but then has also claimed that his remark was a joke.
Two FBI officials have now testified to the contrary.
Lisa Page says she was in the room at the time of the remark and felt Rosenstein was quite serious:
A debate with major implications has broken out over whether Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein was being sarcastic when, in the spring of 2017, he reportedly talked about covertly recording President Donald Trump.
A former career Justice Department official who was in the room when the topic arose told The Daily Beast he believes the deputy attorney general was being sarcastic. But another person in the room at the time has indicated she took it seriously.
Former FBI lawyer Lisa Page was present for Rosenstein’s comments on secret recordings and did not believe he was joking or being sarcastic, according to two people familiar with the events in question. A spokesperson for Page declined to comment for this story.
Former FBI General Counsel James Baker, while admitting he colluded with the Clinton campaign via David Corn, also has testified that McCabe did find the remarks serious but that he wasn’t sure:
The Justice Department has disputed the story, saying that Rosenstein was making a joke in response to a request from McCabe to investigate Trump over his firing of Comey. The report touched off intense speculation about Rosenstein’s job status. He reportedly offered to resign following the report, but the White House rejected the proposal.
Baker told Congress that McCabe and Page took Rosenstein’s remarks seriously. Sources familiar with his testimony said Baker testified that he was not certain whether Rosenstein’s remarks, if said in earnest, were unethical or illegal.
IOW, a coup was ongoing.
The disclosures have a caused a lot of conjecture about Rosenstein’s future. Some, like Laura Ingraham, have called for Rosenstein’s firing, but Trump has chosen to retain him. Whatever, Rosenstein is in deep crap.
Which brings us to why Trump is holding on.
One possibility is that Trump has flipped Rosenstein. Trump may have a great deal of leverage given Rosenstein’s remarks. He has the witnesses to bring a conspiracy charge against the President and that’s not a little thing. So perhaps Rosenstein is giving up others in return for being spared the chopping block.
The other, more remote possibility, is that Rosenstein has been working with Trump from day one and it’s all been a huge set-up.
Can’t wait to see which one.
DrJohn has been a health care professional for more than 30 years. In addition to clinical practice he has done extensive research and has published widely with over 70 original articles and abstracts in the peer-reviewed literature. DrJohn is well known in his field and has lectured on every continent except for Antarctica. He has been married to the same wonderful lady for over 30 years and has three kids- two sons, both of whom are attorneys and one daughter on her way into the field of education.
DrJohn was brought up with the concept that one can do well if one is prepared to work hard but nothing in life is guaranteed.
Except for liberals being foolish.
I fully understand what Rosenstein was saying. “You want evidence against Trump, but there isn’t any. He’s not doing anything wrong and hasn’t done anything wrong. So, what do you expect me to do; WEAR A WIRE?”
I think, regardless of his own affiliation (unfortunately, that matters a LOT in the leadership of the FBI nowadays), he was frustrated with those clamoring for something… ANYTHING… to hang on Trump when, obviously, there was simply no THERE there.
Lord knows Mueller has been trying and if there was ANYTHING there, he would have leaked it, though he may be following his orders and waiting till late October to provide more uncorroborated crap for leftist consumption.
it is a case of keep your friends close and your enemies closer.