https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/21/us/politics/rod-rosenstein-wear-wire-25th-amendment.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage

Shit just got even more interesting.

As the world turns!


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WASHINGTON — 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.

Mr. Rosenstein was just two weeks into his job. He had begun overseeing the Russia investigation and played a key role in the president’s dismissal of Mr. Comey by writing a memo critical of his handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation. But Mr. Rosenstein was caught off guard when Mr. Trump cited the memo in the firing, and he began telling people that he feared he had been used.

Mr. Rosenstein made the remarks about secretly recording Mr. Trump and about the 25th Amendment in meetings and conversations with other Justice Department and F.B.I. officials. Several people described the episodes, insisting on anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. The people were briefed either on the events themselves or on memos written by F.B.I. officials, including Andrew G. McCabe, then the acting bureau director, that documented Mr. Rosenstein’s actions and comments.

None of Mr. Rosenstein’s proposals apparently came to fruition. It is not clear how determined he was about seeing them through, though he did tell Mr. McCabe that he might be able to persuade Attorney General Jeff Sessions and John F. Kelly, then the secretary of homeland security and now the White House chief of staff, to mount an effort to invoke the 25th Amendment.

The extreme suggestions show Mr. Rosenstein’s state of mind in the disorienting days that followed Mr. Comey’s dismissal. 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. Mr. Rosenstein appeared conflicted, regretful and emotional, according to people who spoke with him at the time.

Mr. Rosenstein disputed this account.

“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.”

A Justice Department spokeswoman also provided a statement from a person who was present when Mr. Rosenstein proposed wearing a wire. The person, who would not be named, acknowledged the remark but said Mr. Rosenstein made it sarcastically.

But according 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.

Mr. McCabe, who was later fired from the F.B.I., declined to comment. His memos have been turned over to the special counsel investigating whether Trump associates conspired with Russia’s election interference, Robert S. Mueller III, according to a lawyer for Mr. McCabe. “A set of those memos remained at the F.B.I. at the time of his departure in late January 2018,” the lawyer, Michael R. Bromwich, said of his client. “He has no knowledge of how any member of the media obtained those memos.”

The revelations about Mr. Rosenstein come as Mr. Trump has unleashed another round of attacks in recent days on federal law enforcement, saying in an interview with the Hill newspaper that he hopes his assaults on the F.B.I. turn out to be “one of my crowning achievements” and that he only wished he had terminated Mr. Comey sooner.

“If I did one mistake with Comey, I should have fired him before I got here. I should have fired him the day I won the primaries,” Mr. Trump said. “I should have fired him right after the convention. Say, ‘I don’t want that guy.’ Or at least fired him the first day on the job.”

Days after ascending to the role of the nation’s No. 2 law enforcement officer, Mr. Rosenstein was thrust into a crisis.

On a brisk May day, Mr. Rosenstein and his boss, Mr. Sessions, who had recused himself from the Russia investigation because of his role as a prominent Trump campaign supporter, joined Mr. Trump in the Oval Office. The president informed them of his plan to oust Mr. Comey. To the surprise of White House aides who were trying to talk the president out of it, Mr. Rosenstein embraced the idea, even offering to write the memo about the Clinton email inquiry. He turned it in shortly after.

A day later, Mr. Trump announced the firing, and White House aides released Mr. Rosenstein’s memo, labeling it the basis for Mr. Comey’s dismissal. Democrats sharply criticized Mr. Rosenstein, accusing him of helping to create a cover story for the president to rationalize the termination.

“You wrote a memo you knew would be used to perpetuate a lie,” Senator Christopher Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut, wrote on Twitter. "You own this debacle.”

The president’s reliance on his memo caught Mr. Rosenstein by surprise, and he became angry at Mr. Trump, according to people who spoke to Mr. Rosenstein at the time. He grew concerned that his reputation had suffered harm and wondered whether Mr. Trump had motives beyond Mr. Comey’s treatment of Mrs. Clinton for ousting him, the people said.

THERE'S MUCH MORE IN THE LAINK...

Makes me wonder if this wasn't planted by someone

would go to the failing New York Times (Trump's own words) and use them has a hatchet job to try to sully Rosenstein's name.

I'm also surprised The New York Times would take part in this since throwing dirt on Rosenstein makes it that much easier to remove Robert Mueller.

Assuming you have the available time to do so, of course.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/13/us/politics/state-department-curtains.html

you can go back to bush/iraq/wmds.

to them literally striking a partnership deal with steve bannon for 'clinton cash' details and 'evidence' of clinton foundation corruption.

to their coverage of the clinton emails saga.

to this all-time beauty right before the election in 2016.
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/01/us/politics/fbi-russia-election-donald-trump.html

and we wont even start on maggie haberman and her whitehouse access journalism.

either these folks are easily duped in a way that other credible outlets arent. or they are comfortable subtly being a dropoff for right wing propaganda.

That person said the wire comment came in response to McCabe’s own pushing for the Justice Department to open an investigation into the president. To that, Rosenstein responded with what this person described as a sarcastic comment along the lines of, “What do you want to do, Andy, wire the president?”

That person insisted the statement was never discussed with any intention of recording a conversation with the president.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/mccabe-memos-say-rosenstein-considered-secretly-recording-trump/2018/09/21/f4aa9a62-bdca-11e8-8792-78719177250f_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.7e2b7fe6c6e8

https://twitter.com/brithume/status/1043266241530667008

basically nytimes ran with a inflammatory account without properly vetting all sources.

It will energize the Dems (even more so) to vote in midterm.

The whole plan is to confirm Kavanaugh before the midterm, fire Rosenstein after. Any court case involving Trump/Russia (or the investigation itself) will make its way to the SC. At this point Trump will have a favorable outcome.

come out, Manafort and Cohen been goin the fk in tryin to knock dem years off them sentences... bcz Mueller is in the 4th qtr doin work at the line like Peyton Manning bout to raise the fkng trophy

in light of....well, about everything.

Hearing Bill Shine rolling out media plan to build public support for Trump to fire Rosenstein

https://twitter.com/gabrielsherman/status/1043212861739294722

no reason to think this wont backfire (unless outlets like nytimes just keep broadcasting stories without due diligence).

https://twitter.com/Amy_Siskind/status/1043310626234421249

https://twitter.com/jonathanvswan/status/1044234579073290240

>https://twitter.com/jonathanvswan/status/1044234579073290240

Rosenstein said I'm on my way but you gotta fire me, playa

Is the next man/woman up going to shut it down?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noel_Francisco


**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

this shit bout to kick into high gear..I think mueller want to get this shit out there PRIOR to the election...like fuck all yall..

everything kicks into high gear at once.

You got Midterms, Kavanaugh AND you throw this into the mix NOW!


**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

Trump has been in the tri-state area since this weekend.

Just attending a previously scheduled Security Council meeting.

Sources say.... sources say
Why does everyone want to be first so bad smh. Why can't we just wait for the event to actually happen before we get reports published about it?

Here at the White House there’s no sign of Rosenstein, a lone intern is keeping watch over the comms office, and no one seems to have any idea what is actually happening. Meanwhile, on Twitter, literally any employment situation is a possibility. Good job everyone.

https://twitter.com/katierogers/status/1044256698175811585

My feed went from Supreme Court stuff to “if x happens
then y, but if a happens...” etc

>
>My feed went from Supreme Court stuff to “if x happens
>then y, but if a happens...” etc
>
>


“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.”

https://twitter.com/mkraju/status/1044267241875886080


White House: Trump, Rosenstein spoke Monday, will meet Thursday at White House amid uncertainty about Deputy AG's fate.

https://twitter.com/AP/status/1044268419569373184

i think we are gonna find out that the atlantic 'resistance' op-ed and the nytimes rosenstein/mccabe leak were all part of bill shines plan to use the media against the doj and mueller probe.

Not that they're the only ones, but the obvious media fuckups lately seem to be coming from them.

I'm not sure what Atlantic "resistance" op-ed you're talking about, but wasn't the one from someone supposedly in the administration, bragging about thwarting Trump's worst instincts; wasn't that actually in the Times?

I'm not gonna cancel my subscription any time soon, they are still doing a lot of great work, but it also feels like they're regularly and successfully being played for suckers by this administration. And of course a lot of that even goes back to the early '16 campaign.

>I'm not sure what Atlantic "resistance" op-ed you're talking
>about, but wasn't the one from someone supposedly in the
>administration, bragging about thwarting Trump's worst
>instincts; wasn't that actually in the Times?

i dont know why i thought that piece ran in the atlantic.

the worst part about nytimes is they never really admit their fuckups. their journalists just dismiss/patronize/block people on twitter all day.

and they dont just fuck up. their 'mistakes' have far reaching implications for the future of our country.

heard some of the bs might be a result of her

and they all seem to play into Trump's hands in the end.

She seems to be a very serious reporter, but I hope there's a good oversight system in that newsroom (it's the Times, so duh, but seriously...) to make sure she or someone else isn't just taking obvious bait from the WH, knowing it's bait, just to get more attention to their byline.

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/09/trump-wanted-to-nuke-rosenstein-to-save-kavanaughs-bacon

“THE STRATEGY WAS TO TRY AND DO SOMETHING REALLY BIG”: TRUMP WANTED TO NUKE ROSENSTEIN TO SAVE KAVANAUGH’S BACON

But Trump allies are privately imploring him to cut Kavanaugh loose to save Republicans’ electoral chances in the midterms.

BY GABRIEL SHERMAN
SEPTEMBER 24, 2018 1:26 PM

At the beginning of one of the most consequential weeks of Donald Trump’s presidency, an enormous smoke bomb was detonated in the news cycle when Axios, deeply wired in Trump’s West Wing, reported that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had resigned. Quickly, a head-spinning array of conflicting accounts were put forth: had he been fired? Was he heading to the White House to be fired—or was he going to a regularly scheduled meeting? Finally, Sarah Huckabee Sanders brought a measure of clarity by tweeting that whatever was going to happen to Rosenstein would happen on Thursday, when the president returned from New York.

For all the morning’s madness, there may have been an underlying logic. Over the weekend, as Brett Kavanaugh’s prospects appeared increasingly imperiled, Trump faced two tactical options, both of them fraught. One was to cut Kavanaugh loose. But he was also looking for ways to dramatically shift the news cycle away from his embattled Supreme Court nominee. According to a source briefed on Trump’s thinking, Trump decided that firing Rosenstein would knock Kavanaugh out of the news, potentially saving his nomination and Republicans’ chances for keeping the Senate. “The strategy was to try and do something really big,” the source said. The leak about Rosenstein’s resignation could have been the result, and it certainly had the desired effect of driving Kavanaugh out of the news for a few hours.

Rosenstein still has his job, at least until Thursday, leaving open multiple possibilities regarding the underlying reality. Regardless, Trump has wanted to fire Rosenstein from the moment he read the New York Times article that reported Rosenstein had discussed secretly tape-recording Trump and rallying Cabinet secretaries to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove him from office. (Rosenstein has denied the account.) Some outside advisers, including Sean Hannity, have cautioned that the Times story was a trap to get Trump to fire Rosenstein and trigger a Saturday Night Massacre-like crisis that, however temporarily successful, would leave Democrats holding almost all the cards.

The confusion surrounding Rosenstein’s tenure may not give Kavanaugh a reprieve. In public, Trump continues to voice support for his embattled Supreme Court nominee, telling reporters at the United Nations earlier this morning that he stands with Kavanaugh “all the way.” But in private, Trump is growing increasingly frustrated by being mired in a deteriorating political situation beyond his control. On Monday morning, a Republican briefed on Trump’s thinking said the president has been considering pulling Kavanaugh’s nomination.

According to the source, Trump allies are imploring him to cut Kavanaugh loose for the sake of saving Republicans’ electoral chances in the midterms. The argument these advisers are making is that if Kavanaugh’s nomination fails, demoralized Republicans will stay home in November, and Democrats will take the House and the Senate and initiate impeachment proceedings. The end result: Trump will be removed from office. “The stakes are that high,” the source said. Another Republican adviser told me: “Trump is very worried now, and is finally waking up that it’s the end of his presidency if he loses the Senate.” Trump’s outside allies are advising him to nominate Amy Coney Barrett and fast-track her confirmation before the midterms. “Some in the White House think you can only appoint a woman now,” a former administration official told me. An outside adviser added: “Democrats won’t be able to pivot fast enough to attack her, since she’s a woman.”

Even before Ronan Farrow and Jane Mayer reported Deborah Ramirez’s account that Kavanaugh exposed his penis without her consent at Yale (which Kavanaugh emphatically denies), Trump has been unhappy with how Senate Republicans are handling the nomination process. According to sources, Trump blamed Mitch McConnell and Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley for agreeing to delay Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony until Thursday. “He thinks they look weak,” a Republican briefed on Trump’s thinking said. A White House official told me Trump was also angry that Senate Republicans waited hours to respond to Ford’s interview with The Washington Post, creating a vacuum in the news cycle that allowed the narrative to take hold. “You don’t let that happen,” the official said.

Last week, White House advisers, including Johnny DeStefano, implored Trump not to attack Dr. Ford. A source said Bill Shine and Corey Lewandowski were pushing a more aggressive approach. Trump listened to the moderates until Friday, until he reverted to form and tweeted: “I have no doubt that, if the attack on Dr. Ford was as bad as she says, charges would have been immediately filed with local Law Enforcement Authorities by either her or her loving parents.”

As Kavanaugh’s poll numbers plummet, Trump is telling people in private that he was never a fan of Kavanaugh’s selection, sources said. According to two people who’ve spoken with Trump recently, Trump complained that establishment Republicans foisted Kavanaugh on him, because they reasoned Kavanaugh would unite the party in November. According to one former West Wing official, Trump’s first choice was Judge Thomas Hardiman, who served on the federal bench alongside Trump’s sister Maryanne Trump Barry.

Trump is keeping his distance from the nominee. A White House official said he hasn’t spoken with Kavanaugh in recent days. “This is Brett Kavanaugh’s fight,” the White House official said.

Update: an earlier version of this article said Axios had reported Rosenstein “offered to resign.” The original Axios report said Rosenstein had verbally resigned.

none of it makes sense.

https://twitter.com/nytmike/status/1044365424622751749

this shit is so amateurish.

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/09/27/democrats-vote-mueller-protection-bill-847888

Democrats prepare to force vote on Mueller protection bill
By KYLE CHENEY 09/27/2018 12:19 PM EDT


House Democrats are preparing to force a vote Thursday on a plan to protect special counsel Robert Mueller's probe from interference or unilateral removal by President Donald Trump.

Massachusetts Rep. Jim McGovern, with the backing of Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee, intend to introduce the proposal as an amendment ahead of expected consideration of three tax-related bills. The proposal would force Republicans to decide whether to consider the Mueller-protection proposal or sideline it.

For Democrats, the effort is a chance to force Republicans on the record on an issue that has generated some bipartisan support in the House and Senate. It's a matter Democrats have described with increasing urgency as Trump has ratcheted up his attacks on Mueller and the investigation of his campaign's contacts with Russia.

Republicans, though, have shown little urgency to support the measure, even as most have expressed support for Mueller being allowed to complete his work. They've argued that they don't believe Trump will try to remove Mueller, despite his rhetoric describing the investigation as illegitimate and a "witch hunt"

The measure, which has the backing of six House Republicans in addition to more than 120 House Democrats, would prohibit a special counsel from being removed without "good cause," such as a violation of Justice Department policy. The proposal would also prohibit removal by anyone other than the attorney general or the most highly ranked Justice Department official who oversees the special counsel.

In addition, the measure must provide written notice of any removal decision, including a detailed explanation, and provide the special counsel an opportunity to appeal to a three-judge panel. The court would also decide whether the special counsel would remain active while any appeal is pending -- and would guarantee that all documents, resources and materials are preserved.

Two Republican senators, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, backed an identical measure in the Senate.

McGovern intends to introduce an amendment to a House rule to govern debate on three tax bills. The amendment would require Republicans to add the special counsel legislation to the list of bills to be considered.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, has long sought the committee's consideration of the legislation but has been stymied along partisan lines from a hearing or vote.

Rosenstein expected to depart DOJ in coming weeks if new attorney general confirmed

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/rosenstein-expected-depart-doj-coming-weeks-attorney-general/story?id=60252611