Chaos at the White House: Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein DOESN’T resign and isn’t fired over plans to wiretap Trump and use 25th Amendment to oust him – but ends up attending Cabinet meeting instead
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein’s goose appeared cooked for a few hours Monday morning
Reports emerged late last week that he had plotted to oust President Trump via the 25th Amendment and secretary record him to build a case for it
Following a series of news reports that had Rosenstein either quitting or resigning, he attended a routine Cabinet meeting at the White House
Rosenstein sat in for a travel Attorney General Jeff Sessions
He oversees the expansive Russia probe conducted by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, whom he appointed
Taking him out of the equation would give the investigation’s reins to Solicitor General Noel Francisco, whom the West Wing would prefer
The White House says Rosenstein has asked for a meeting Thursday with the president, and he’ll get it
By DAVID MARTOSKO
DAILYMAIL.COM
24 September 2018
Following a flurry of reports Monday that Rod Rosenstein would head to the White House to tender his resignation, the deputy attorney general turned up to attend a routine Cabinet meeting instead.
Rosenstein’s head was thought to be on the choppping block following a spate of negative press revolving around alleged plots to secretary record President Trump and use the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution as a lever to force him from office.
A handful of media outlets, led by Axios, reported that Rosenstein had toldWhite House Chief of Staff John Kelly that he was leaving his post in anticipation that Trump would swing the axe.
‘He’s expecting to be fired,’ a source told the news website Axios.
Bloomberg News reported that Kelly, who spoke with Trump on the phone before the president’s lunch in New York City, had accepted Rosenstein’s resignation.
But within an hour the Justice Department’s second-in-command was attending a previously scheduled Cabinet meeting in the West Wing, sitting in for a traveling Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders hinted in a statement that crunch time won’t come for another three days.
‘At the request of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, he and President Trump had an extended conversation to discuss the recent news stories,’ Sanders said.
‘Because the President is at the United Nations General Assembly and has a full schedule with leaders from around the world, they will meet on Thursday when the President returns to Washington, D.C.’
Rosenstein denied a New York Times report last week that he suggested secretly recording the president in 2017 to provide arationale for declaring him unfitr to serve in the Oval Office.
If he were to leave the administration, Solicitor General Noel Francisco would inherit Rosenstein’s role overseeing Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s expansive Russia probe.
The rest of Rosenstein’s duties, however, were reportedly set to go to Sessions’ chief of staff, Matthew Whitaker, who would serve as acting deputy AG.
A federal law called the Vacancies Act directs the president to fill power vacuums in executive branch agencies when officials quit or die – at least until a Senate-confirmed replacement can take over.
Trump’s options, however, would be limited to the list of officials that the U.S. Senate has vetted and confirmed to their current positions.
The Rest…HERE
