We Now Know What Happened After NYT Reported Rosenstein Floated Taping Trump

on October 17, 2018 in Washington, DC.
WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 17: U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein speaks during the National Conference on Medicaid of America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) October 17, 2018 in Washington, DC. Rosenstein sp... WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 17: U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein speaks during the National Conference on Medicaid of America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) October 17, 2018 in Washington, DC. Rosenstein spoke on "Strategies to End the Opioid Epidemic: View from Department of Justice." (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

After the New York Times reported back in September that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein floated wearing a wire to secretly record President Trump, it was a bit surprising that he remained in his role.

But now, thanks to new reporting from the Washington Post, it’s been revealed that Rosenstein had to fight for his job in the wake of that report.

After the report came out, Rosenstein offered to resign in a meeting with then-White House chief of staff John Kelly, but said he didn’t “want to go out with a tweet,” according to the Washington Post. Rosenstein then spoke with Trump over the phone.

Rosenstein blamed the New York Times report on former deputy FBI Ddirector Andrew McCabe and told Trump that he would make sure the President was treated fairly by special counsel Robert Mueller, according to the Post.

“I give the investigation credibility,” Rosenstein reportedly said. “I can land the plane.”

That apparently helped convince Trump to keep Rosenstein on at the Justice Department

Read the Washington Post’s full report here.

Latest News

Notable Replies

  1. Wow. So is it reasonable to conclude that the investigation, at least to a certain degree, was compromised from that moment forward?

  2. Seems like Rod was keeping Trump in the loop every step of the way. This makes me wonder a lot about how much Rosenstein constrained Mueller and his team. Junior should’ve been indicted. The rationale given in the report does not fly particularly since ignorance of the law is no excuse.

  3. “After the report came out, Rosenstein offered to resign in a meeting with then-White House chief of staff John Kelly, but said he didn’t “want to go out with a tweet,” according to the Washington Post. Rosenstein then spoke with Trump over the phone.”

    I give the investigation credibility,” Rosenstein reportedly said. “I can land the plane.”

  4. He was the ‘liaison’ between Trump and Mueller (at least in regards to announcements), but I’m also beginning to wonder too.

  5. Rosenstein reportedly said. “I can land the plane.” Isn’t that what Barr said also when he appeared before Congress? Are they both frustrated pilots?

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

110 more replies

Participants

Avatar for ghost Avatar for mondfledermaus Avatar for mattinpa Avatar for inversion Avatar for psudawnc Avatar for bonvivant Avatar for lastroth Avatar for mxyztplk Avatar for leftcoaster Avatar for bboerner Avatar for pshah Avatar for tena Avatar for dommyluc Avatar for Ken_a_roni Avatar for marymaryquitecontrary Avatar for dannydorko Avatar for lisaport Avatar for isaacbnyc Avatar for zillacop Avatar for paul_lukasiak Avatar for dicktater Avatar for emiliano4 Avatar for kovie Avatar for Akimbo

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: