Thread by @jpanzer

Some more information about Rosenstein's role in all this, and he does not look good. He should be called to testify to the House Judiciary committee.

nybooks.com/daily/2019/05/…

The original justifications for firing Comey that Trump and Stephen Miller cooked up included ridiculous and false claims like "Comey sought a private dinner with the president in an effort to keep his job" and that Trump "retained Comey on a probationary or trial period only" /1

Rosenstein then comes in and _after reading this_ writes a totally different memo justifying Comey's firing on other grounds (Clinton investigation). /2

It turns out that Rosenstein initially resisted appointing a Special Counsel, but "McCabe found an ally in James Crowell IV, Rosenstein’s then chief of staff ... and within days Rosenstein came around to their point of view and appointed Mueller as special counsel." Oh. /3

So Rosenstein, instead of being horrified at Trump's mis-use of his memo to fire Comey and appointing a SC to investigate, was in fact complicit in the original cover story for firing Comey and only after his chief of staff allied with the acting FBI director... /4

...did he reluctantly appoint a SC. But (not in this story, but now obvious) his appointment letter gave VERY wide leeway on what the exact scope of Mueller's work would be. On its face, it appeared to hand over the CI investigation Comey confirmed to Congress... /5

...but we NOW know that in fact Mueller never had the CI investigation in his scope. Behind the scenes, his scope was very narrowly tailored to only the the least likely: That Trump actually criminally conspired with the GRU or the IRA directly to help tip the 2016 elections./6

Nothing about the broader CI investigation, nothing about Trump's financial ties to Russia, nothing else was actually in Mueller's scope. Yet the appointment order made it appear as if it were -- leading to a false sense of security. /7

"Two Justice Department officials who were party to the decision to allow Rosenstein to oversee the Russia investigation told me that they and other officials involved were not given certain crucial pieces of information at the time... /8

...—knowledge that would have led them and others, they said, to push for Rosenstein to recuse himself from the investigation". Rosenstein was overseeing an investigation into his own conduct as well as that of his direct boss (Sessions), and he withheld... /9

...the information that would have led others to conclude he should recuse himself from oversight. This looks a lot like a cover-up. It looks like Rosenstein was playing both sides and protecting himself. And, what else do we find? /10

"Rosenstein, who had begun his new job as Deputy Attorney General on April 26, also signed off on Comey’s May 3 testimony. As best I could determine, Rosenstein never informed the president ... /11

...that he himself had approved the statements Comey gave to Congress that so aggravated Trump and made him more determined to fire the FBI director. Six days later, Trump did so."

Clearly Rosenstein was protecting his job by withholding information from the President. /12

"Investigators for the special counsel later concluded that the “probationary” gambit was a cover story devised by Trump to conceal the fact that he had fired Comey because of the Russia investigation." Rosenstein aided and abetted by devising a better cover story! /13

"Although it is unclear whether Rosenstein knew in May 2017 that Trump’s draft letter was a falsehood, Rosenstein was certainly told this later when he was briefed on the matter while overseeing the special counsel’s investigation." Oh. And then, what did Rosenstein do? /14

He didn't recuse himself as required by DOJ regulations. And then when the investigation was concluded, despite knowing Trump and Miller tried to create a cover story for a firing (showing corrupt intent), he stood silent as Barr swept obstruction charges away. /15

My conclusions: Rosenstein, McGahn, Annie Donaldson, and James A. Crowell IV need to testify to the House Judiciary Committee about all of this. /16

Postscript: Interestingly, James A. Crowell IV, who this article states pushed for Rosenstein to appoint Mueller, has been nominated to the bench by Trump and his nomination is pending in the Senate. congress.gov/nomination/116…