Are We About to Witness Trump’s “Saturday Night Massacre”?
President Trump will meet with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein this Thursday, September 27, in the White House after rumors and speculation swirled today, Monday, through Washington DC and the mainstream media that Rosenstein was about to be fired today.
Rosenstein did go to the White House today – and initially the White House reported he was coming to resign – something the Department of Justice at the same time denied. Trump is in New York attending the United Nations conference. Rosenstein also attended a previously scheduled “Principles Committee” meeting at the White House in place of Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
Rosenstein did meet with Chief of Staff John Kelly – but a couple hours later – in a definite photo op – Kelly was seen shaking Rosenstein’s hand having walked him out of the White House after the meeting. Reportedly Kelly never does that with someone who has come to the White House for a meeting. But today he did – and Kelly looked directly into one of the many television cameras posed to record anything historic just over the fence of the White House.
So, Rod Rosenstein is still the Deputy Attorney General and is still overseeing the Mueller investigation into whether the Trump campaign and administration worked with the Russians to undermine the 2016 Presidential election. Today he is still.
But will happen Thursday when Trump returns from New York? Will Trump fire him then? Or will Rosenstein resign?
The reason this has been stirred up is due to a New York Times piece published last Friday alleging Rosenstein had discussed wearing a “wire” to tape Trump and pursuing his removal from office by invoking the 25th Amendment. This was alleged to have occurred in meetings and conversations with Justice Department and FBI officials back in the days after Trump had fired James Comey, the FBI director.
Rosenstein denied it and made this statement:
“The New York Times’s story is inaccurate and factually incorrect. I will not further comment on a story based on anonymous sources who are obviously biased against the department and are advancing their own personal agenda. But let me clear about this: Based on my personal dealings with the president, there is no basis to invoke the 25th Amendment.”
But there are at least two sources who were in the room when these statements were allegedly made by Rosenstein, and who both said he was being sarcastic. The Washington Post quoted an unnamed individual saying Rosenstein quipped sarcastically after FBI Director McCabe pushed for an investigation into the president, “What do you want to do Andy? Wire the president?”
Reportedly Rosenstein also had met with Kelly Friday afternoon to discuss the response to the Times report, and after Kelly had urged him to put out a stronger denial, Rosenstein did just that after that meeting. And then, the two – Rosenstein and Kelly – had discussions over the weekend, and supposedly the issue of whether Rosenstein would resign came up, although it’s not known who brought it up.
And then late Monday morning, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders released this statement:
“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 United Nations General Assembly and has a full schedule with leaders from around the world, they will meet on Thursday when the President returns to Washington, D.C.”
If Rosenstein was pushed out – or resign – it would be U.S. Solicitor General Noel Francisco who would take over overseeing the Russia investigation. And Francisco – besides not having prosecutorial experience – has huge conflicts of interest if he had that role and responsibilities.
But the over-riding question that hangs over all of this is – are we about to witness the Trump version of the “Saturday Night Massacre”? The “Saturday Night Massacre” happened when president Nixon had to fire the Attorney General and the Deputy Attorney General before he found someone who would fire Archibald Cox – then the special prosecutor of the investigation into Nixon’s abuse of power, etc.. This usurpation of law directly lead to Articles of Impeachment being drawn up against the president and to Nixon’s resignation.
Thousands – if not millions – of American citizens will take to the streets if Rosenstein is fired – and the Constitutional Crisis will rise to a level never seen before.
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