[ad_1]
What was already set up as one of the most important and consistent weeks of Trump's presidency – while the commander-in-chief in New York chaired a United Nations meeting and in Washington, the city was preparing for a confrontation with the Supreme Court Brett Kavanaugh – found that the stakes seemed to reach historic levels on Monday morning, as the media fought for the long-awaited resolution of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
He did not have to be. But the momentary shooting that has taken place probably does not mark the postponement of an imminent crisis, rather than a permanent escape.
The disappearance of Rod Rosenstein, the man who, during the first weeks of his term, justified the dismissal of FBI director James Comey and then named the predecessor of Comey, Robert Mueller, was the lawyer Special investigator seems to have occurred as Ernest Hemingway once said about bankruptcy: gradually, then suddenly.
Gradually, because finally, it never seemed to be a question of if Rosenstein would be fired, but when – and how far away would Mueller be when Rosenstein was canned. Journalists throughout the capital had repeatedly predicted the stories of "Rosenstein is fired," as tensions between the White House and the Justice Department diminished and intensified over the past two years. (Recently, the Wall Street Journal had actually sung the praises of the dynamic Trump-Rosenstein: "It's fantastic," President Trump said about their relationship in August.)
The life expectancy status quo of the Mueller survey is perhaps already a few weeks old.
And suddenly, because last Friday, The New York Times reported that Rosenstein had, in the same tumultuous weeks of last year after the dismissal of Comey, discussed the possibility of invoking the 25th amendment and urging government officials to remove Trump from office. Ironically, the article explained that Rosenstein, at the time, thought he could engage Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly in the effort, which was the man Rosenstein seemed to encounter on Monday to receive his papers.
But as quickly as "Rosenstein is fired," the news was just as shocking that Rosenstein would actually stay, at least until Thursday, when he would meet President Trump himself. The crisis took place and passed, barely the length of one Law and order episode.
However, the life expectancy status quo of the Mueller survey is perhaps already just a few weeks; the precarious and fragile truce that has existed between the Department of Justice and the White House since the summer of 2017 – where Trump freely disapproves of Mueller on Twitter but fails to any action that actively removes him – already seems ready to be quickly upset.
Trump, it seems, is already talking about breaking the truce, even if Rosenstein survives.
Rosenstein's ouster was long perceived in Washington as Act 1 of Trump's Saturday night massacre: Trump would send Rosenstein, then Mueller himself, as well as possibly any other Justice Department official who would offend special advice. American democracy at that time would be put to the test as never before, the President of the United States, as a nation of laws and not of men, was stressed by a president who struck (so sometimes cranky) beyond all the norms of democracy.
Rosenstein himself has hanged more time than expected, facing months of deadly attacks from media outlets such as Fox News and attacks from the presidential Twitter account that would have destroyed any other official in normal times. In a way, this is evidence of the political acumen that allowed him, at the time of his appointment to the second position of the Department of Justice, to be the oldest US Attorney in the Presidencies of George W. Bush. and Barack. Obama and Donald Trump.
He also survived where so many others did not do it. The record of the investigation in Russia and the clashes between Trump and the Ministry of Justice and the rule of law have already been the subject of a high balance sheet: first there was Acting Attorney General Sally Yates , the FBI director at the time, James Come Baker, then FBI chief of staff, Jim Rybicki, and then FBI deputy director, Andrew McCabe.
Rosenstein has been carefully updated by Mueller throughout the investigation and has been the public face of the only two press conferences held since the beginning of the case, the charges brought against the Russian Internet Agency in February officers, in July.
His visibility on the case and his role in the original sin of Comey's shooting made him, as I wrote earlier this summer, the most seductive character of the investigation in Russia: "In a world of hedgehogs and foxes, Rosenstein is the ultimate hedgehog. Rosenstein knows a very big monumental and historical thing – how Trump's presidency ends – and he bet that if he can hang on long enough, justice will be done and the good ones, in his eyes, will win. His first actions, around the shooting of Comey, will be justified by the story when we will see them in the light of his courage and his personal sacrifice and his refusal to quit, which would lead the person appointed to take care of supervise it later. "
Yet, even though Washington is back to normal on Monday, the political landscape seems even more uncertain than certain.
Rumors have circulated – and President Trump has even widely reported – that he intends to remove Attorney General Jeff Sessions shortly after the elections in mid-November, in early November.
The firing sessions would probably have the same effect as the dismissal of Rosenstein himself; The only reason Rosenstein oversees the investigation of Russia is that Sessions has recused himself amidst the many questions about his own role in meeting with Russian officials during the Trump campaign. A new Attorney General – or a new Acting Attorney General, if Trump appointed one – would almost certainly take control of Rosenstein's investigation.
Any attempt to fire Mueller could be anything but At first glance evidence of an attempt to obstruct justice.
But what would happen if someone else Rosenstein oversaw Mueller's probe? Trump's lawyers were quick Monday to call for a "break" in the investigation as a new manager is appointed to oversee it. Mueller, however, appears to have entered a phase of his investigation, as he advances with a plea of guilty and cooperation from Paul Manafort, and in favor of the conviction of National Security Advisor, Michael Flynn. One of the biggest questions left unanswered is how many people are still evolving, publicly or privately, between Mueller and the middle of life. Much of Mueller's grand jury work during this month seemed to "focus tightly" on Trump's partner, Roger Stone. Will Stone fall before the sessions are returned?
Mueller's investigation could also prove more difficult to close, both practically and politically, during previous presidential eruptions on the "witch hunt". First, parts of the Mueller investigation were entrusted to other prosecutors. . The federal high-level prosecutors of the Southern New York District are overseeing both the end of Michael Cohen's investigation and the allegations against other lobbyists related to Paul Manafort, as the Democratic broker-in-power. Greg Craig. And the charge of the GRU officers was handed over to the National Security Division of the Department of Justice.
As a former South York District lawyer, Preet Bharara, himself one of many US lawyers sacked by Trump in one fell swoop last year –tweeted recently: "Practice Note: Trump does not have any effective way to stop any investigation conducted by SDNY. This office is more isolated, sustainable and "sovereign" than the Office of the Special Council. You can fire Mueller. You can dismiss the US Attorney. You can not fire the SDNY.
At the same time, Paul Manafort's potential cooperation also seems to alter President Trump's equation by attempting to fire Mueller or reduce his probe. Now that its campaign chairman is cooperating publicly, any attempt to fire Mueller could be anything but At first glance evidence of an attempt to obstruct justice – adding fodder to the very case where Trump strives to evade justice.
If Rosenstein leaves before the Sessions – and there is no reason to believe that Thursday's meeting with Trump will be anything but a ritual to allow both parties to declare that the air is cleared – it is not obvious that the man then online to oversee the investigation – Noel Francisco, Solicitor General of the Department of Justice – would act immediately to fire or restrict Mueller himself. Francisco, a well-known and respected Conservative appeals lawyer, has already expressed opinions that would seem to make him hostile to the idea of a special advocate, but he also has a largely traditional curriculum vitae in Washington: he worked in high places from George W. Bush White House, and experienced the professional reputations of many of today's central Russia, investigating figures dating back at least to his days at the Office of the Legal Counsel of the Department of Justice during the same years that James Comey was Deputy Attorney General, Christopher Wray was Deputy Attorney General for the Criminal Division, and Robert Mueller was Director of the FBI.
For the moment, however, everything is as before. And Tuesday begins in Washington, Robert Mueller continues his work. Only Rosenstein and he know what comes next.
Garrett M. Graff is an editor for WIRED and the author of The Threat Matrix: Inside Robert Mueller's FBI. He can be reached at [email protected].
Biggest cable stories
[ad_2]
Source link
