Rod Rosenstein - LIVE: Deputy attorney general may resign or be fired by Trump at meeting as Noel Francisco waits in the wings
Noel Francisco - the current solicitor general - would be expected to take on oversight of the Russia probe
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Your support makes all the difference.Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who oversees Special Counsel Robert Mueller‘s investigation into Russia’s role in the 2016 presidential election, is due to meet with Donald Trump on Thursday amid reports he is “expecting to be fired”.
Mr Rosenstein, the number two official at the Justice Department, verbally resigned to White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, Axios reported.
A second source told Axios that Rosenstein is “expecting to be fired” so he plans to step down.
Other reports suggested that Mr Rosenstein would force Mr trump to fire him, if that was what was going to happen.
Trump faces mounting pressure from the investigation by Mr Mueller, who is looking into Russia’s role in the 2016 presidential election.
Mr Rosenstein assumed supervision of the probe after his boss, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, recused himself because of his own contacts with Russia’s ambassador to Washington while serving as a Trump campaign adviser became public.
There was widespread speculation that TMr rump would fire Mr Rosenstein after a New York Times report on Friday said in 2017 he had suggested secretly recording Mr Trump and recruiting Cabinet members to invoke a constitutional amendment to remove him from the office.
The Times said none of those proposals came to fruition. Mr Rosenstein denied the report as “inaccurate and factually incorrect.”
Reuters
NBC's Pete Williams said Mr Rosenstein would not resign of his own accord, and that he will only depart if the White House fired him. He will refuse to resign if asked to do so, Mr Williams.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders has said Mr Rosenstein and Mr Trump will be meeting on Thursday - so he still has his job.
“At the request of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, he and President Trump had an extended conversation to discuss the recent news stories. Because the President is at the UN.. they will meet on Thursday when the President returns to Washington DC.”
Of course, Thursday is the day Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford are giving evidence to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Expect a busy day in Washington DC.
The Associated Press reported that Mr Rosenstein called White House Counsel Don McGahn over the weekend to say he was considering resigning, according to one person familiar with the conversation. Mr McGahn told Mr Rosenstein they should discuss the issue Monday, said the person who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private conversation.
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein’s car pulled up at the Justice Department just a few minutes ago, after he spent this morning at the White House.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions delivered what some might say was an ominous line in a speech in Alabama this morning, before news broke that his number two, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, had discussed resigning and was on his way to the White House.
Responding to a long welcoming applause at a public safety conference, Sessions told the crowd:
“Thank you so much. That is a warm welcome and I appreciate it. It will make my day and who knows, I may need this today. Going back to Washington, you never know what’s going to happen next in the capital city, that’s for sure.”
Mr Rosenstein has returned to the Department of Justice after his meeting with John Kelly at the White House. CNN said he entered through the garage to avoid reporters.
A number of those in Congress have called for the protection of the Mueller investigation.
Democratic senator Kamala Harris has called for the senate to pass legislation that would protect Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, in light of speculation Mr Rosenstein may not be overseeing it for much longer.
“The senate must pass legislation to protect special counsel Robert Mueller TODAY,” Ms Harris wrote on Twitter.
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