We have previously discussed the tell-all book written by James Comey. Now Andrew McCabe has cashed in on his own tell all — and not surprisingly it is scathing. The most notable allegation however concerns the memorandum written by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein on why Comey should be fired. McCabe insists that he and others witnessed a visibly upset Rosenstein complain that Trump and aides pressured him to write the justification for firing Comey. The book is The Threat: How the FBI Protects America in the Age of Terror and Trump.
On May 12, 2017, McCabe recounts how a “glassy-eyed” Rosenstein became emotional in describing the pressure and how he was being set up as a scapegoat. McCabe says that Rosenstein insisted that it was not his idea and that Trump basically ordered him to do it. He added that Rosenstein lamented “There’s no one here that I can trust.”
If that account is true, it would contradict the thrust of statements made by both the White House and Rosenstein that the memorandum was his idea. Sean Spicer denied that Trump direct Rosenstein to write the memorandum and that “it was all him.”
The account raises some questions however. The memorandum references communications and opinions from a broad array of current and former justice officials who viewed Comey as unprofessional and unjustified in some of this decisions as FBI Director. Unless the representations were unsupported, it is hard to see how such work could have been thrown together in the short period between Rosenstein’s appointment and Comey’s firing.
However, the book gives a glimpse into what McCabe told Mueller. The final report now expected in March could delve more deeply in the such alleged pressure. That would of course raise again prior objections to why Rosenstein did not recuse himself as a material witness.