Concerning the recent story in The New York Times that Deputy US Attorney General and supervisor to the special counsel investigation of President Trump Rod Rosenstein had verbally considered invoking the 25th Amendment in order to remove President Trump, on Lawfare Jack Goldsmith presents an analysis of the fallout of the article. These points particularly caught my eye:
This story gives President Trump plenty of legitimate reasons to fire Rosenstein, including: (1) Rosenstein’s suggestion of recording Trump; (2) Rosenstein’s floating of the idea to decapitate Trump under the 25th Amendment; (3) Rosenstein’s plan to consult Comey about who should be appointed special counsel just days after Trump fired Comey; and (4) Rosenstein’s related acts of insubordination and disrespect. Trump now has cover should he wish to fire Rosenstein for his appointment and supervision of Robert Mueller. It will be interesting to see how Trump reacts. He could fire Rosenstein immediately. Or he could not fire him and instead use the story to continue to attack Rosenstein’s supervision of Mueller. (The current fight over the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court might significantly affect the President’s calculus.) …
Regardless of the legal issue of Rosenstein’s conflict of interest, this story will lend enormous credibility to the president’s claim that the Mueller investigation is hopelessly compromised. The president can now tell a story about how Rosenstein acted with anger and resentment in appointing Mueller; that the Mueller appointment was part of Rosenstein’s larger plan to decapitate the president; and that Rosenstein’s 18-month supervision of the Mueller investigation, and the investigation itself, is therefore compromised. I don’t think these revelations affect the legality of the Mueller appointment and investigation. But they will surely affect the atmospheric lens through which it is judged.
Which leaves me to wonder if the reporters involved were taken in by a false story, deliberately planted by President Trump and/or his allies. While Trump is not politically adept, some of his allies have political skills and better judgment than he has, outside of pleasing his base of supporters.
It’ll be interesting to see if Rosenstein survives in his position much longer. It’s possible that if the Republicans suffer a devastating mid-term election result, he’ll be left in his position rather than going through the trouble of shepherding a new Deputy AG through a hostile Senate; if the Republican control of the Senate continues, on the other hand, he may be handed his walking papers quite quickly.
