Government

Rod Rosenstein Offered To Wear A Wire To Record Trump, According To The New York Times

Rosenstein also offered to recruit cabinet members to invoke the 25th Amendment, according to the report.

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Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty)

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is going to walk away from the Trump era, assuming that any of us are able to walk away from the Trump era, with one of the most complicated legacies of anybody in Donald Trump’s government.

On the one hand, he’s been in charge of the Russia investigation since Jeff Sessions rightly recused himself because he lied to Congress. Rosenstein hired Robert Mueller. He’s been a key cog in keeping the investigation going.

On the other hand, he was complicit in Donald Trump’s obstruction of justice that necessitated the need for a special counsel in the first place. It’s Rosenstein’s letter that Trump used as pretext for firing then-F.B.I. Director James Comey.

Today, the New York Times has an explosive report about what Rosenstein was willing to do to the president.

The deputy attorney general, Rod J. Rosenstein, suggested last year that he secretly record President Trump in the White House to expose the chaos consuming the administration, and he discussed recruiting cabinet members to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Mr. Trump from office for being unfit.

Mr. Rosenstein made these suggestions in the spring of 2017 when Mr. Trump’s firing of James B. Comey as F.B.I. director plunged the White House into turmoil. Over the ensuing days, the president divulged classified intelligence to Russians in the Oval Office, and revelations emerged that Mr. Trump had asked Mr. Comey to pledge loyalty and end an investigation into a senior aide…

[A]ccording to the others who described his comments, Mr. Rosenstein not only confirmed that he was serious about the idea but also followed up by suggesting that other F.B.I. officials who were interviewing to be the bureau’s director could also secretly record Mr. Trump.

Rosenstein vehemently denies the report. But, like, what do you want him to say? “Yes, President Trump is cray-cray, we’re all gonna die if we don’t stop him. Please send help now!”

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And if you really parse Rosenstein’s denial… it’s kind of not really a denial:

“The New York Times’s story is inaccurate and factually incorrect,” he said in a statement. “I will not further comment on a story based on anonymous sources who are obviously biased against the department and are advancing their own personal agenda. But let me be clear about this: Based on my personal dealings with the president, there is no basis to invoke the 25th Amendment.”

Alright kids, let’s put on our close-read glasses:

  • “The New York Times’s story is inaccurate and factually incorrect” — This is a good strong blanket denial, that doesn’t specifically deny any particular allegation.
  • “I will not further comment on a story based on anonymous sources” — Listen, people are talking anonymously because they fear retaliation by the crazy president. Don’t act like you’ve never been one.
  • “who are obviously biased against the department and are advancing their own personal agenda.” — Telling your boss exactly what he wants to hear is a good strategy when a report comes out that you were willing to secretly tape your boss.
  • “But let me be clear about this” — Cool. Here come the specific denials.
  • “Based on my personal dealings with the president” — Wait, your “personal dealings”? You’re saying that the president has never ordered you to watch his one-man performance of Kiss of the Spiderwoman, personally? That’s comforting.
  • “there is no basis to invoke the 25th Amendment.” — That’s a curious use of the word “is.” Considering that the report dealt with whether you were looking to invoke the 25th Amendment, one might have said “there was no basis to invoke the 25th, nor is there now.” But, you didn’t say that, did you?
  • “…” — Where is the specific denial about secretly recording the president? That’s the shocking thing here, isn’t it? It appears that pretty much everybody in your administration already knows that the president is unfit for office, that all of you cowards occasionally think about the 25th is a known issue. But… secretly recording the president? Wearing a wire? That’s new.

This report will, undoubtedly, feed Trump’s desire to fire Jeff Sessions, and Rod Rosenstein. It will feed the “deep state” narrative by the alt-right.

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But… I believe that the Deputy Attorney General offered to wear a wire to secretly record the President of the United States because he’s a dangerous man, unfit for office. Everybody knows this, and still, nobody does anything to stop him.

Rosenstein Suggested He Secretly Record Trump and Discussed 25th Amendment [New York Times]

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