According to several sources, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is out. Now, how he leaves his position is up for debate.
According to Axios, Rosenstein is expected to resign.
NBC News’ Pete Williams, however, reported that Rosenstein would not resign of his own accord and was headed to the White House on Monday, where he would refuse to resign if asked. He’s expected to meet with White House Chief of Staff John Kelly where Rosenstein will be fired.
Wait...Bloomberg is reporting that Rosentein has told Kelly verbally that he’s resigning. Oh, and all of this is happening while President Trump is in New York City for the United Nations General Assembly.
What we do know definitively without question is that Rosenstein will be unemployed by Tuesday, maybe, and it’s all because of a New York Times report on Friday that alleged that Rosenstein discussed secretly recording the president and invoking the 25th amendment to remove Trump.
Rosenstein’s firing, or eventual resignation, could set Washington, DC, ablaze as he’s been overseeing “the ongoing investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller, who is probing Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, and possible obstruction of justice by President Donald Trump,” according to the Times.
Rosenstein’s expected departure doesn’t mean that Attorney General Jeff Sessions would oversee the Russia investigation. According to several sources, the job would go to the next in line; some goof named Noel Francisco is on deck.
Who is Noel Franscico? Who knows. Here’s how Vox describes him:
Francisco’s résumé includes working on George W. Bush’s legal team in the 2000 Florida recount and, as a partner at the law firm Jones Day, representing former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell in his successful case before the Supreme Court that led to McDonnell’s corruption conviction being overturned.
Francisco has a sterling reputation as a conservative lawyer, but he apparently wasn’t Trump’s first choice for the job. Chuck Cooper, a well-known litigator, was Trump’s top pick, according to CNN, but he withdrew from consideration.
Updated: Monday, Sept. 24, 2018, 1:10 p.m. ET: Well..well...well...It looks like Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein will hang on for a least a few more days as reports are now noting that he will meet with President Trump on Thursday. Yes, that’s the same day that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, is to sit in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee to testify.
It’s been rumored (fine, I’m making it up) that Trump wanted to be back at the White House so Rosenstein could sit across from him and he could spit out his overly used catch phrase, “I’m fucked” “You’re fired.”
This story is breaking. Please check back for updates.