,
10 tweets,
3 min read
Read on Twitter
I could not fit this in to my post today, but I am curious what role, if any, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein’s played in the FBI decision to open a CI investigation of Trump after he fired Comey, based on the president’s perceived threats to national security. 1/
The reported sequence of events is odd. @gregpmiller reports in The Apprentice that on May 8, 2017, “there was a Comey-bashing session” in the Oval Office with the president and other top officials “in which nearly everyone—including Rosenstein—participated with enthusiasm.” 2/
According to Miller, the President then announced, with Rosenstein in the room, that he had decided to fire Comey, and he included as a reason his frustration with the Russia probe. Miller suggests dimly that there was concern in the room about POTUS' Russia rationale. 3/
Miller then says what happened next. On his account, Trump liked what he heard from Sessions and Rosenstein about firing Comey due to his handling of the Clinton email matter. Miller then says that Rosenstein appeared to go along with that rationale for firing Comey. 4/ 
After Trump fired Comey WH released the Rosenstein memo about Comey’s performance in the Hillary Clinton investigation and stated that this was the reason POTUS fired Comey. This angered Rosenstein, who threatened to resign. 5/
A different source says Rosenstein, in conversations with Acting FBI Dir. McCabe, suggested that he secretly record Trump in WH and "discussed recruiting cabinet members to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Mr. Trump from office for being unfit.” 6/ nytimes.com/2018/09/21/us/…
It was also during this period that McCabe apparently made the decision to open the counterterrorism investigation of Trump that has been in the news. 7/ washingtonpost.com/world/national…
And then of course a few weeks later Rosenstein appoints Mueller to conduct a counterintelligence investigation of Russia and the 2016 election. 8/
I continue to be puzzled why Rosenstein is not recused from any possible obstruction of justice inquiry by Mueller related to the Comey firing. 9/ lawfareblog.com/why-hasnt-rod-…
And now I am also curious whether Rosenstein approved the counterintelligence step that McCabe took soon after the firing, and how he thought McCabe’s step related to the jurisdiction he (Rosenstein) conferred on Mueller. END.
