Fasten your seatbelts: The New York Times just gave Donald Trump the get-out-of-jail-free card he’s been longing for via an anonymously sourced report that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein once proposed to wiretap Trump in order to invoke the 25th Amendment.
With a headline titled, “Rod Rosenstein Suggested Secretly Recording Trump and Discussed 25th Amendment,” the Times article begins:
The deputy attorney general, Rod J. Rosenstein, suggested last year that he secretly record President Trump in the White House to expose the chaos consuming the administration, and he discussed recruiting cabinet members to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Mr. Trump from office for being unfit.
Mr. Rosenstein made these suggestions in the spring of 2017 when Mr. Trump’s firing of James B. Comey as F.B.I. director plunged the White House into turmoil. Over the ensuing days, the president divulged classified intelligence to Russians in the Oval Office, and revelations emerged that Mr. Trump had asked Mr. Comey to pledge loyalty and end an investigation into a senior aide.
Clearly, this is just the kind of excuse Trump and his Collusion Cover-Up Cohorts have been dreaming of ever since Trump started looking like there was something very wrong about him and Russia.
So you have to wonder who leaked this information to The Times and why now, more than a year after the fact?
As Marcy Wheeler noted, the Times’ own description of its sources indicates that none had firsthand information of the events reported:
Several people described the episodes, insisting on anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. The people were briefed either on the events themselves or on memos written by F.B.I. officials, including Andrew G. McCabe, then the acting bureau director, that documented Mr. Rosenstein’s actions and comments.
Wheeler further notes that the two people the Times cited who were present dispute the characterization. Rosenstein called the report “inaccurate and factually incorrect” and another, unnamed person who was present when Rosenstein made the proposal said he was being sarcastic.
So who were those sources? Wheeler points out that Rep. Jim Jordan looks like a strong possibility:
Rosenstein denies the NYT story.
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) September 21, 2018
Mr. Rosenstein, give Congress the McCabe memos that we asked for in July and all the other documents we’ve requested so we can all judge for ourselves.https://t.co/dHOgL73paP
But Gabriel Sherman suggests this may be part of a larger plan straight from the White House, via former Fox News exec Bill Shine, now deputy chief of staff in charge of communications:
Hearing Bill Shine rolling out media plan to build public support for Trump to fire Rosenstein
— Gabriel Sherman (@gabrielsherman) September 21, 2018
Like Pavlovs dogs, Fox News Trumpers are demanding their treat:
Rod Rosenstein must be fired today. @realDonaldTrump
— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) September 21, 2018
He needs to go. Today. https://t.co/oDVNWKX5vH
— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) September 21, 2018
Rod rosenstein shld have been fired long ago for being part of the ‘resistance’ and not providing documents to congress in order to save his corrupt pals. NOW HE MUST BE FIRED.
— Jeanine Pirro (@JudgeJeanine) September 21, 2018
Driven by vengeance, Rosenstein sought to secretly record the President. He must be fired immediately! Since a clearly biased Rosenstein has been in charge of the Mueller investigation, it must be terminated. This illegitimate probe has been tainted by corruption from the start.
— Gregg Jarrett (@GreggJarrett) September 21, 2018
I don’t usually praise Fox’s Katie Pavlich but I’ll give her a shoutout here for showing some decency and some backbone:
The suggestion that Jeff Sessions, no matter how frayed his relationship with President Trump, would help invoke the 25th amendment and that Rosenstein actually thought this was possible is totally laughable pic.twitter.com/arbpwORVLh
— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) September 21, 2018
As I write this, Sean Hannity has not tweeted yet, but I can guarantee you that he (a good friend of Shine’s) or whichever Trumper guest hosts tonight will be celebrating with all the malicious glee at his or her disposal.
We can all expect a Trump lackey who will shut down the Mueller investigation in Rosenstein’s place.
(Rosenstein image via screen grab)
Robert Mueller is fully aware of the obstruction of justice done by Crazy, Crooked, Corrupted Trumpy and his friends. All of them will face a judge with felony charges attached to them.
These frauds can spend 15 days in jail, but a felony is a lifetime sentenced that will stay with them for the rest of their lives. Their high-end friends will distance themselves from them and these frauds will find themselves living with family members mowing lawns and collecting cans and bottles to make ends meet. All of them will lose their wealth. All of them. Guaranteed!
Trump Organization will go bankrupted. The hotels and resorts, golf course will all close down. The property would either be bulldozed or sold to another company and renamed.
Hannie Pie will face his senior years destitute and force to live with his sisters. We highly doubt MJ would stick around at that point and move away.
The Shining is better off in prison. No one would hire this New York street rat to clean the gutter. Our apologies to the street rat.