Monday was a rough day for Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, the man in charge of special counsel Robert Mueller and his Russia investigation. Early Monday morning reports came out that he had resigned to Chief of Staff John Kelly, reports which were proven wrong a few hours later. Speculations that he had been fired were also quickly shot down. To quell the public confusion, the White House announced that Rosenstein would meet with Trump on Thursday to discuss his future within the Justice Department.
Rumors of Rosenstein's departure began swirling last week after the New York Times published a story that said Rosenstein had suggested taping the president in order to invoke the 25th amendment and prove he was not fit for office. Rosenstein denied the report.
National security expert Juliette Kayyem told Boston Public Radio Wednesday that she believes Trump will keep Rosenstein in office until the midterms are over.
“The President has kept the option to fire him open for Thursday. I personally don’t think he will. I think there is enough going on with all the news that that would be quite a thing. Not before the Midterms. I think after the midterms,” she said.
Kayyem believes that Rosenstein had indeed given Kelly his resignation but it was denied to avoid more bad press on top of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s sexual allegations and impending hearings.
If Rosenstein is fired, Kayyem thinks that the new deputy attorney general will not fire Mueller. What Kayyem is worried about is that if Rosenstein is fired, his removal may derail the investigation.
“It would not be a good day for the Mueller investigation. You can’t measure what Rosenstein is doing and I think it is significant. I think it is way Trump wants him fired.”
