Unnamed sources told NBC News that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is aware that he may soon be fired and is content in that knowledge, asserting in private conversations that he feels confident that he did his job with integrity.
He reportedly added that he feels sure that history will look on him kindly for firing former FBI Director James Comey last May, saying that there are details about what happened in the run up to Comey’s dismissal that are still not widely known.
The same unnamed sources told NBC that Rosenstein’s current demeanor is at odds with his mood at other times in his tenure when he was wracked with anxiety and distress. They reportedly said that these emotions were especially intense after the Comey firing and when President Donald Trump was fuming over Rosenstein’s decision to appoint Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
Various outlets reported this week that the White House is preparing talking points in the event that Trump fires Rosenstein, and Trump alleged in a tweet on Thursday that Rosenstein had conflicts of interest.
If Rosenstein is fired, Solicitor General Noel Francisco would take on the job of overseeing Mueller’s probe, though Trump could choose to bypass him for another Senate-confirmed candidate.
