![](\"https:\/\/cdni.rt.com\/files\/2018.09\/thumbnail\/5ba56aa2fc7e93e6038b462d.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The number two official at the Justice Department wanted to secretly record President Donald Trump so as to impeach him, claims the New York Times. Spoiler Alert: Rod Rosenstein denies the claim, but does it matter in the swamp?<\/p>\n
\u201cRod Rosenstein Suggested Secretly Recording Trump and Discussed 25th Amendment\u201d<\/em> the Times blared in a breaking news headline on Friday afternoon, adding that the deputy attorney general also discussed recruiting Cabinet members to invoke the constitutional provision for removing Trump from office.<\/p>\n The Times would have its readers believe that Rosenstein was surprised when Trump used his memo to justify the firing of FBI Director James Comey in May 2017, and sought to enlist AG Jeff Sessions and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly \u2013now the White House chief of staff\u2013 to support him in ousting Trump.<\/p>\n Breaking News: Rod Rosenstein, the official who appointed Robert Mueller, once proposed secretly taping President Trump and removing him via the 25th Amendmenthttps:\/\/t.co\/p6Y30OxzRd<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 The New York Times (@nytimes) September 21, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n None of the Times\u2019 sources are named – except one: Former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe, or rather his memos about the meetings with Rosenstein and other officials.<\/p>\n Within a couple hours, the Washington Post was rehashing the story as well, this time bluntly attributing it to McCabe\u2019s memos.<\/p>\n McCabe memos say deputy attorney general Rosenstein suggested recording Trump and invoking 25th Amendment, which Rosenstein disputes https:\/\/t.co\/VnNZaBA8Vh<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Washington Post (@washingtonpost) September 21, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n McCabe was Comey\u2019s deputy at the FBI and served as acting director until August 2017, when Christopher Wray was sworn in. McCabe was fired in March 2018<\/a>, just days shy of a federal pension, after reports from the DOJ Inspector General and the FBI\u2019s Office of Professional Responsibility accused him of leaking to the press and \u201clacking candor.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Comey wrote memos of his meetings with Trump and leaked them to the press after his firing, to ensure the appointment of a special counsel \u2013 he said as much in a Senate testimony last June<\/a>. Therefore, it would not be outside the realm of possibility that McCabe would leak his memos in a similar fashion, right?<\/p>\n Norm Eisen of the pro-Democrat advocacy group CREW was quick to defend Rosenstein and point the finger at McCabe.<\/p>\n I have known Rod for 25 years. If he says it is \u201cinaccurate & factually incorrect,\u201d it is. Can\u2019t know NYT source for sure but (like a previous & similar NYT story) there are indicators this is revenge effort by McCabe. https:\/\/t.co\/1dPIixvCci<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Norm Eisen (@NormEisen) September 21, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n Wrong, says McCabe himself. All of his memos, classified and unclassified, were handed over to Special Counsel Robert Mueller \u201cmore than a year ago,\u201d<\/em> he told ABC News on Friday.<\/p>\n \u201cA set of those memos remained at the FBI at the time of his departure in late January 2018. He has no knowledge of how any member of the media obtained those memos,\u201d<\/em> a statement from McCabe added.<\/p>\n Rosenstein also chimed in, to disavow the Times report as \u201cinaccurate and factually incorrect.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI 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,\u201d<\/em> the DAG said on Friday. \u201cBut let me be clear about this: Based on my personal dealings with the president, there is no basis to invoke the 25th Amendment.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n More anonymous sources quickly let it be known that Rosenstein\u2019s comment about wires and taking down Trump was sarcastic and meant as a joke.<\/p>\n Person in the room when Rosenstein discussed wearing a wire said: “I remember this meeting and remember the wire comment. The statement was sarcastic and was never discussed with any intention of recording a conversation with the president.”<\/p>\n \u2014 Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) September 21, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n If Trump uses this story to fire Rosenstein, the liberal explainer site Vox argued<\/a>, this could leave the Mueller probe vulnerable to getting shut down. The Times story \u201cmay have just destroyed\u201d<\/em> Rosenstein\u2019s delicate balancing act between serving Trump and protecting the Mueller investigation, according to Vox.<\/p>\n Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) said<\/a> the Times story \u201cmust not be used as a pretext for the corrupt purpose\u201d<\/em> of firing Rosenstein and replacing him with an official \u201cwho will allow the president to interfere with the Special Counsel\u2019s investigation.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Some members of the anti-Trump #Resistance went even further, claiming that the Times was colluding with Trump to get Rosenstein fired and calling it<\/a>\u201cjournalistic malpractice\u201d <\/em>and \u201cpropaganda.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n This story (and its framing in the face of Rosenstein\u2019s denial) serve as justification for Trump to use to fire Rosenstein.<\/p>\n Whether or not that was the intention of @nytmike<\/a> and @adamgoldmanNYT<\/a> and their higher-ups, I don\u2019t know, but it\u2019s the impact.<\/p>\n It brings to mind this: pic.twitter.com\/bucTycHRQa<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Leah McElrath (@leahmcelrath) September 21, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n A number of Trump supporters, from his son Don Junior<\/a> to Fox News pundits Laura Ingraham<\/a> and Judge Jeanine Pirro<\/a>, saw the Times story as a reason to fire Rosenstein.<\/p>\n Resistance twitter celebrity Seth Abramson relished the prospect, saying that Rosenstein\u2019s firing would be the perfect \u201ctrap\u201d<\/em> for Trump. He quickly qualified it by saying, without evidence, that the Times story was \u201cclearly leaked by Trump allies\u201d<\/em> and that Trump himself had to be aware that firing Rosenstein would \u201cfire up Democrats like nothing else.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n People worry the breaking Rosenstein news is a perfect chance for Trump to fire him. No\u2014it’s the perfect opportunity for him to fall into the *trap* of firing him. There’s a *reason* he’s waiting until after the midterms to fire Sessions. Firing Rosenstein now would sink the GOP.<\/p>\n \u2014 Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) September 21, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n That may well be the case, considering that Democrats immediately forgot all of their rage towards Comey once Trump fired him, enlisting the former FBI director in the #Resistance right away.<\/p>\n Trump has every authority to fire Rosenstein, just like he had it to fire Comey. He has not done so, however, even as his allies in Congress clashed with the DAG<\/a> over his refusal to submit to congressional oversight. In fact, earlier on Friday Trump announced<\/a> he would humor the DOJ and hold off on declassifying a number of Russia probe-related documents he ordered to be made public.<\/p>\n As for Trump and the Times being in cahoots, the #Resistance appears to have forgotten that the Times published the infamous \u201cLodestar\u201d<\/em> op-ed two weeks ago, purportedly written by a top official<\/a> in the administration who admitted working to thwart the president\u2019s agenda.<\/p>\n All in all, just another Friday in Washington.<\/p>\n Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\n\n
\n\n
\n\n
\n\n
\n\n