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Report: Rosenstein Appears To Deny That He Threatened To Resign Over False Account Regarding His Comey Memorandum [UPDATED]

Rod_Rosenstein_US_AttorneyDeputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein who wrote the memorandum firing James Comey  is back in the news today.  Various news organizations are reporting that he allegedly threatened to quit after the White House represented that Comey was fired based on his recommendation.  Both the Washington Post and ABC News are reporting that Rosenstein was sufficiently outraged by the White House statements that he was prepared to walk.  The reporting is highly disturbing on a number of levels.  The White House made a notable change in its account of the decision yesterday — admitting that Trump decided that he wanted Comey gone over a week earlier.  Of course, this does not change the fact that Rosenstein recommended the firing of Comey in the memo but it raises serious questions of the veracity of the White House. UPDATE: The White House is categorically denying that Rosenstein threatened to resign.  More importantly, Rosenstein has denied that he threatened to resign though it is not clear if he denied calling the White House to object to its portrayal of the facts leading to the termination.

I have been critical of the coverage of the decision including the statements of experts at CNN and other outlets saying that Comey had to be fired because the investigation was getting too close to Trump and that the Rosenstein memo was “a lie.”  I still do not believe that those hyperbolic accounts are justified.  There has been no serious allegation of a crime in the Russian controversy beyond the reporting/registration violations of people like former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn.  However, if these reports are accurate, the White House fundamentally misrepresented the key facts leading to this decision.  As I have said since the firing, I believe that the removal of Comey makes the case for an appointment of a Special Counsel (something I previously questioned as warranted). The reason is the loss of credibility of this Administration for millions of citizens.  This report will only deepen that crisis.

On  Good Morning America, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the deputy White House press secretary, said she was not aware of any threat by Rosenstein to resign. However, various sites are relying on inside sources that say that Rosenstein was sufficiently irate to threaten a resignation only two weeks after his confirmation.

The question raised by the reports is whether the memo did indeed reflect the view of Rosenstein that Comey deserved to be fired as opposed to stating the basis for such a firing (if the President wanted to use his authority to do so).

However, Rosenstein was asked by a Sinclair Broadcast Group reporter if he made such a threat. Rosenstein responded, “No, I’m not quitting.”  That would seem a denial of the allegation though it was a tad ambiguous.  The question was not whether he was quitting but threatened to do so.  However, the White House has also denied the story.

The  New York Times seemed to suggest that the memo was demanded rather than volunteered.  The editors wrote “In ordering you to write the memo exploited the integrity you have earned over nearly three decades in public service, spending down your credibility as selfishly as he has spent other people’s money throughout his business career.” That is a very serious allegation. It suggests that the memo was not Rosenstein’s idea or possibly his preference.  That could open up a legitimate area for congressional inquiry.

The reported facts suggest that the President wanted to fire Comey and raised the issue with Sessions and Rosenstein.  Reports also indicate that Trump was irate over the Russian investigation and his view that Comey was not supportive in addressing rumors and allegations.  If Rosenstein agreed that Comey should be fired, the substantive basis for the decision would still track his memorandum.  Rosenstein presumably would have resigned if the termination did not coincide with his own views of the merits on the question.

In his memo, Rosenstein spoke in the first person and was unambiguous in his recommendation:

We should reject the departure and return to the traditions.

Although the President has the power to remove an FBI director, the decision should not be taken lightly. I agree with the nearly unanimous opinions of former Department officials. The way the Director handled the conclusion of the email investigation was wrong. As a result, the FBI is unlikely to regain public and congressional trust until it has a Director who understands the gravity of the mistakes and pledges never to repeat them. Having refused to admit his errors, the Director cannot be expected to implement the necessary corrective actions.

96 thoughts on “Report: Rosenstein Appears To Deny That He Threatened To Resign Over False Account Regarding His Comey Memorandum [UPDATED]”

  1. Trump said he was doing it on the initiation of others. That’s a lie and he has admitted he was the one who wanted to do it, as of today. Go to Zero Hedge for the article.

    http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-05-11/i-was-going-fire-him-anyway-trump-slams-showboat-grandstander-comey

    Trump: “I was going to fire him anyway” etc.

    If you read the documents you will clearly see that Roy is saying Comey isn’t capable to leading the FBI. You may read that differently than I do but I don’t see that as a recommendation to keep Comey on. Do you?

    David, can’t you see these people are all despicable? This is our nation. There are no rose colored glasses that any person should be wearing. These people are all, every single one of them, dishonorable brigands who do not deserve the respect of any citizen.

    1. “If you read the documents you will clearly see that Roy is saying Comey isn’t capable to leading the FBI. You may read that differently than I do but I don’t see that as a recommendation to keep Comey on. Do you?”

      Wow Jill, since you put it that way, clearly Rosenstein was detailing every reason Comey should not be fired…at least from a federal government job. It’s not as though Comey was sitting around watching porn on his computer. Oh wait, that won’t get you fired either. It’s not as though he had proven intent to lose congressional or public trust. He just lost it, won’t admit it and will not make the changes to get it back.

      So Mr. President, I serve at your pleasure and will support whatever decision you make as long as you don’t take me down with you. Love Rod!

    1. Jill, you must be reading through rose colored glasses. Professor Turley already linked to these documents. I can’t see any lie that you claim is there. Why don’t you TRY to point it out.

  3. Rosenstein’s memo laid out a forceful case for firing Comey.
    I’d have recheck the exact wording Rosenstein used, but he HAD to have known that this was not a letter of recommendation or a glowing review of Comey’ performance.
    IF IN FACT he is NOW saying, gee, I didn’t know this could be used to fire Comey, then Rosenstein is a weasel and a liar.
    If his position is now being misrepresented by the media, they are the weasels and liars.
    Rosenstein needs to testify….he would have faced some tough questioning in any case, but now he’s really going to get hammered.

    1. Seems like Rosenstein commands more respect than the dishonest idiot that is POTUS.

  4. When it cones to the Trump administration, I ask myself, “What would the mafia do?” It helps.

    1. Had it been a Clinton administration, you wouldn’t have to ask. They would already be doing it.

      1. No, Clinton’s aren’t the mafia. They’re just crooked pols.

  5. “We should reject the departure and return to the traditions.

    Although the President has the power to remove an FBI director, the decision should not be taken lightly. I agree with the nearly unanimous opinions of former Department officials. The way the Director handled the conclusion of the email investigation was wrong. As a result, the FBI is unlikely to regain public and congressional trust until it has a Director who understands the gravity of the mistakes and pledges never to repeat them. Having refused to admit his errors, the Director cannot be expected to implement the necessary corrective actions.”

    Therefore Mr. President, my recommendation would be that Mr. Comey be retained in his current capacity (perhaps promote him to Attorney General) as that IS the tradition of the federal government.

    Disclaimer: This letter in no way should be construed as an endorsement to fire Mr. Comey or retain him. If my opinion and facts are in any way misrepresented towards one political agenda or another, I will summarily resign and join the cause of the majority…whatever that may be at the time.

    1. Scott,….
      Yeah, but the Washington Post got information from “an unamed source close to the White House”.
      When you’re the Washington Post, anonymous sources are a gold mine when it comes to worthless, unverifiable gossip.
      Somebody is lying through their teeth.
      So is it Rosenstein, with an on-the-record denial?
      Or the “unamed source close to the White House”?

      1. There are a lot of unnamed sources close to the White House. They are also unhoused and often unfed. Just sayin’. 😉

        1. Olly – unnamed sources are often the person next to you in the newsroom.

  7. “Of course, this does not change the fact that Rosenstein recommended the firing of Comey in the memo..”

    Mr. Turley,
    The above statement is NOT accurate. His memo never made a recommendation on firing….He said a number of things that refected negatively on Comey, but he never explicitly called for his resignation.

    1. spiral007, he doesn’t need to explicity call for his boss’s resignation. That is not his position. However, it is clear from his memo that he did not believe that Comey could continue to lead the FBI until he admitted his mistake with the Clinton email investigation. Read the last two sentences of his memo. There is no doubt that he was recommending the need for a new director of the FBI.

      Read the entire memo and other related documents for yourself here:
      http://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/documents/politics/fbi-director-james-b-comeys-termination-letters-from-the-white-house-attorney-general/2430/

        1. Justice Holmes, thanks for the clarification. My word choice of “boss” was a failed tongue-in-cheek word choice based in Rosenstein’s memo asserting that Comey usurped the Attorney General’s authority.

      2. davidm2575, what do you mean that is not his position…….my understanding is that organizationally Comey worked for him and was not his boss….so he can certainly EXPLICITLY make that recommendation…..the fact that he did not say so meant something, which has been borne by events since then.

        secondly, as I said, Comey worked for him, so there was no question of repercussions, on the contrary a case can be made that he was ‘ordered’ by trump/session to write the letter and feared for his job.

        1. “a case can be made that he was ‘ordered’ by trump/session to write the letter and feared for his job.”

          Sure. A lot of cases can be made. I have it on deep background by an unnamed source close to a white house that Sean Spicer has not been doing the briefings because he was injured trying to force Rosenstein to sign that memorandum.

        2. Spiral007, I did not understand that relationship. I thought the FBI was independent, but you are right, the FBI is under the U.S. Department of Justice and reports to the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence. So why did he not explicitly make the recommendation for firing like Sessions did? Maybe he is a bad writer. The end of the memo did not flow well. That would make more sense to me than the speculation that he was ordered to do it, as if Trump was required to hide behind Rosenstein.

  8. Professor Turley’s article is kind of confusing. I don’t see how credibility is undermined for the White House. I think most Trump supporters wanted Comey fired right away. The real question is what took President Trump so long to do it? It seems to me that people are just putting different spins on the facts leading to evil speculations.

    1. So the Trump supporters wanted to hide the money laundering….

      1. No, Mike, the Trump supporters want President Trump to drain the swamp. He is not doing it fast enough for some of us. Repeal of Obamacare, dismantle the EPA and Department of Education, fire everyone complicit with bad government, etc. … yeah, not happening fast enough for some of us.

  11. It’s being reported elsewhere that both Justice Department officials, as well as Rosenstein himself, have said it isn’t true. I’d like if less unconfirmed reporting were done.

  12. The Washington Post stated that Trump wanted to fire Comey for some time and after Comey’s unravelling during questioning, went to Sessions and this guy and asked them to put together something more substantial than, “He’s not doing a good job.”, which is what Trump tweeted. So, Sessions and this guy are hatchet men who can fill in the proper blanks coherently. Trump would have fired Comey right after Comey didn’t back up Trump’s Obama conspiracy BS. Comey handed Trump the opportunity with his awkward Trump like responses to Congress. Trump probably didn’t like it that Comey was using his riff. The bottom line here is that when Trump says Obama tapped his phones then you best agree with him. I think we will see more cooperative FBI heads from now on and no more talk of Trump and Russia, unless it makes Trump look good. The best defense is distraction…..

  14. He recommended Comey be fired. Comey was fired. What is the issue? Is there an issue outside the imagination of The Slimes and The WaPoo? Is the real issue that Rosenstein is getting flak from his freinds?

    1. desperately…

      my reading is that his memo never made a recommendation on firing….He said a number of things that refected negatively on Comey, but he never explicitly called for his resignation.

    2. “Trump on Monday, where they discussed Mr. Comey’s job performance. At the White House’s prompting, Mr. Rosenstein Tuesday wrote a memo to the president detailing his concerns about the director’s conduct.

      In that letter, Mr. Rosenstein never expressly recommended that Mr. Comey be fired….”

  15. Personally, I do not trust any anonymous sources. Name and shame.

  16. Not sure why you think an independent inquiry may be warranted. So far everyone has admitted there is no evidence into collusion with Russia. Shouldn’t there be something to warrant an investigation?

    1. No one has admitted that there is no evidence. In fact the inquiry is still on going!

  17. Time to invest in calcium hydroxide or mason’s lime. In vast quantities of it.

    1. Another way to turn a profit, place bets on which tribe will consume more of it.

  18. I am sick of all of these people. I have no doubt about the WH’s credibility. It isn’t. Rod can come right out and resign and say why he resigned. No one is acting with honor here. I do think this is more deep state disarray and will repost a link here from an actual investigative reporter on this topic:

    https://consortiumnews.com/2017/05/10/watergate-redux-or-deep-state-coup/

    The anonymous sources need to put a face to their musings, immediately. Rod needs to speak out forthrightly and publicly, (as should have Sally). They are all liars and dishonorable women and men. This nation needs decent people to come forward and leak all the stuff they know about this corrupt govt. It is the only way this swamp will get drained.

    1. I’m wondering how long we will have to put up with all of this nonsense and ignorance. This country and these people deserve a respectable government, one with ethics and standards. No wonder we have so much unrest, dissatisfaction, low morale, low morals and violence.

      Trump bullied his way to the top office in the election, is bullying his way in the presidency and is expecting to be honored.

      1. This country and these people deserve a respectable government, one with ethics and standards.

        No we do not. We deserve what we’re willing to put up with.

        Trump bullied his way to the top office in the election, i

        This is a nonsense statement.

      2. You speak of ignorance; look up what the founding fathers had to say about what is necessary for a virtuous (respectable) government. Then go and scream at yourself in the mirror.

    2. It’s a mess within a mess within a mess. The corruption runs in virtually every direction and when it’s not outright corruption, it’s on the knife’s edge.

      Just about impossible to trust any published accounts of anything and that is probably a feature, not a bug.

    3. She did! Good grief she directed her people not to follow or enforce and unlawful executive order. She has made it clear timemand time again what her positions are and at her confirmation hearing made it clear that if she was given an unlawful order she would say NO. How more straight forward could she be?

      1. The executive order was lawful. She did not like the policy.

  19. Did Trump not hire people that had experience? Listen, I voted for the guy after eight of Obamanation. Since he had no experience in government, I expected him to surround himself with people who knew a thing or three. What an embarrassment. I hope Comey isn’t the only one to get fired…….

    1. Crazed and lying…..his administration is dangerously out of control. If there is a crisis the military will have to step up and that is not a good thing.

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