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How Trump Could Derail the Special Counsel Investigation
Slate ^ | DEC. 18 2017 4:47 PM | Asha Rangappa

Posted on 12/18/2017 5:32:33 PM PST by Golden Eagle

All eyes are on what Donald Trump will do, as the oracles on Twitter and the Hill have predicted that the president may fire special counsel Robert S. Mueller around the holidays. Trump’s lawyers have denied that he is considering such a move, and Trump himself has not directly criticized Mueller. However, Trump has recently expressed dissatisfaction with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, calling him “weak” and a threat. Along with those comments, the Washington Post reports that “Trump appeared to be contemplating changes in the Justice Department’s leadership.” In short, there’s a good chance that the guillotine is poised for Rosenstein, not for Mueller....

Removing Rosenstein and replacing him with a DAG who is at the very least more sympathetic to Trump could have drastic repercussions for the investigation. The new DAG could burden the special counsel with a requirement to provide an explanation for every move he makes and then decide that they aren’t necessary or appropriate. A new DAG would even have the ultimate, er, trump card: She could decide at some point that the investigation should not even continue at all...

Since Rosenstein is his own political appointee, Trump has great discretion in deciding whether to remove him, and he can do it quickly and directly. And by removing Rosenstein but not touching Mueller, Trump can claim that he is in fact not trying to interfere with the Russia investigation at all: Indeed, it could be very hard to prove otherwise, which insulates him significantly from further obstruction charges.

(Excerpt) Read more at slate.com ...


TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: mueller; muellerinvestigation; rodentstein; rosenstein; trump
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To: laplata

Agreed !


21 posted on 12/18/2017 5:59:16 PM PST by Eric in the Ozarks (Baseball players, gangsters and musicians are remembered. But journalists are forgotten.)
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To: Regulator

Why would POTUS pick the next in line at DOJ? With the millions of lawyers in the US, Trump could find a good lawyer from outside the DOJ. The Dems would take this line of offense. Why can’t a Rep.? Put one of the ex DOJ lawyers from better administrations or someone brand new. Clean house Donald J. Trump.


22 posted on 12/18/2017 5:59:41 PM PST by DrDude (Why allow Hillary to continue to breath!)
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To: GotMojo

He is toast regardless as in Mueller


23 posted on 12/18/2017 6:00:33 PM PST by mylife ( The roar of the masses could be farts)
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To: Golden Eagle

” A new DAG would even have the ultimate, er, trump card: She could decide at some point that the investigation should not even continue at all...”

Judge Pirro perhaps?


24 posted on 12/18/2017 6:01:39 PM PST by EQAndyBuzz (We're CNN. We're not lying, we're just incompetent!)
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To: Alberta's Child

I remember reading it was Jared who recommended firing Comey.


25 posted on 12/18/2017 6:02:46 PM PST by DivineMomentsOfTruth ("Liberals see what they believe.. Conservatives believe what they see.")
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To: Navy Patriot
They won't buffalo DJT, and eventually the investigators will be the investigated.

Let's hope so, but so far the only ones arrested in this whole scandal have only Trump associates.

To me, the only true solution is to appoint a non-DOJ person to investigate potential crimes by the DOJ. At least that's the best chance we'll get an honest result, and not a cover up.

But if that doesn't happen, firing Rosenstein (or Sessions) is politically more palatable than firing Mueller directly.

26 posted on 12/18/2017 6:05:51 PM PST by Golden Eagle (Trump: "What the FBI has done is really, really disgraceful, and a lot of people are very angry.")
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To: Regulator
And being politically correct, the Indian author of this little piece refers to the new DAG in the feminine.

Actually, no.

If Rosenstein were fired tomorrow, the DAG post would be filled on an interim basis by the Associate Attorney General. That position is held by Rachel Brand, who was appointed by President Trump in February and confirmed in May.

Sometimes even the Indian author of a left-wing rag gets it right. LOL.

27 posted on 12/18/2017 6:08:22 PM PST by Alberta's Child ("Tell them to stand!" -- President Trump, 9/23/2017)
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To: Golden Eagle

It is the conservative media and the Congressional committees that have exposed Mueller’s biases, but only Trump (or AWOL Sessions) that will ever shut him down for them.

>><<

At this time it would be stupid of Trump to fire him and Trump isn’t stupid.

The longer Mueller operates, the more discredited he becomes and he won’t ever effectively reach “the top” as you put it.


28 posted on 12/18/2017 6:11:25 PM PST by laplata (Liberals/Progressives have diseased minds.)
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To: Golden Eagle
The entire purpose of the hoax RUSSIA investigation was to bait Trump into a Saturday Night Massacre moment.

Trump is too smart for them. He'll just wait for Mueller to implode, which should be any day now.

29 posted on 12/18/2017 6:12:00 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum (<img src="http://i.imgur.com/WukZwJP.gif" width=800>)
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To: Golden Eagle
The president also expressed discontent with Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein, a former federal prosecutor from Baltimore. When Mr. Sessions recused himself, the president said he was irritated to learn where his deputy was from. "There are very few Republicans in Baltimore, if any," he said of the predominantly Democratic city.

Rod Rosenstein was appointed by President Trump. In fact, Trump thought highly enough of him that he refused to accept his resignation from his prior position as the U.S. Attorney for the Maryland District when Jeff Sessions asked for the resignations of all these U.S. Attorneys back in February.

That NYT interview from July 2017 was one of the wackiest media reports of the year. After reading some of those quotes and comparing them to the facts as they actually happened earlier in the year, I concluded that Trump agreed to the NYT interview for the sole purpose of blowing smoke up everyone's @ss. LOL.

30 posted on 12/18/2017 6:12:47 PM PST by Alberta's Child ("Tell them to stand!" -- President Trump, 9/23/2017)
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To: Golden Eagle
Rosenstein's role in the Special Counsel investigation took an interesting turn with this highly unusual public statement that was released on June 15th:

Click Here

Statement by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein on Anonymous Allegations

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein today issued the following statement:

"Americans should exercise caution before accepting as true any stories attributed to anonymous 'officials,' particularly when they do not identify the country -- let alone the branch or agency of government -- with which the alleged sources supposedly are affiliated. Americans should be skeptical about anonymous allegations. The Department of Justice has a long-established policy to neither confirm nor deny such allegations."

As soon as I read this, I figured Rosenstein was sending a message to the Trump team to ignore the 'fake news' reports about the Special Counsel investigation that were coming out on a daily basis.

31 posted on 12/18/2017 6:19:17 PM PST by Alberta's Child ("Tell them to stand!" -- President Trump, 9/23/2017)
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To: Alberta's Child

“the DAG post would be filled on an interim basis by the Associate Attorney General”

She’s interim, right?

So she gets replaced by the new permanent appointee...Ms. Coulter.

Or Ms. Ingraham. They’re both credentialed attornies, don’t know if members of the DC Bar. Don’t know if that’s even required...


32 posted on 12/18/2017 6:19:50 PM PST by Regulator
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To: DivineMomentsOfTruth
Memorandum from Rod Rosenstein re: James Comey Firing
33 posted on 12/18/2017 6:21:59 PM PST by Alberta's Child ("Tell them to stand!" -- President Trump, 9/23/2017)
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To: Regulator
The position requires U.S. Senate confirmation.

Laura Ingraham would be lucky to get five U.S. Senators to vote in favor of her confirmation.

Ann Coulter would get zero on a GOOD day.

34 posted on 12/18/2017 6:22:56 PM PST by Alberta's Child ("Tell them to stand!" -- President Trump, 9/23/2017)
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To: Regulator

P.S. — Neither Coulter nor Ingraham is a real attorney. They may have gone to law school and practiced law at some point in the past, but they are nothing more than media figures right now.


35 posted on 12/18/2017 6:24:02 PM PST by Alberta's Child ("Tell them to stand!" -- President Trump, 9/23/2017)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum; laplata
I understand that Mueller's ship is listing badly right now, but hopefully you can see Rosenstein is the man pumping out the water as fast as he can. And many suspect it's because they were criminally involved with Obama and Hillary on Uranium One.

And if they arrest Kushner or Don Jr. next, Trump could loose the control and momentum he currently has. We can kick the can down the road some more, but if a Trump family member is charged we will be in uncharted territory.

36 posted on 12/18/2017 6:24:13 PM PST by Golden Eagle (Trump: "What the FBI has done is really, really disgraceful, and a lot of people are very angry.")
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To: Alberta's Child
Trump didn't know who Rod Rosenstein was at the time so the fact he appointed him means nothing. It was either a recommendation from Sessions, or a transition party official. Trump's own quotes demonstrate disgust with the appointment, but mote importantly disgust with Rosenstein appointing Mueller due to ALL the OBVIOUS conflicts of interest.

In fact it's been reported that Mueller is already operating on a conflict of interest waiver, which is outrageous considering he's supposed to be a unbiased independent special counsel!

37 posted on 12/18/2017 6:29:15 PM PST by Golden Eagle (Trump: "What the FBI has done is really, really disgraceful, and a lot of people are very angry.")
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To: Alberta's Child

Contradicting Trump, deputy AG Rosenstein says his memo not meant to ‘justify’ Comey firing

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/05/19/contradicting-trump-deputy-ag-rosenstein-says-his-memo-not-meant-justify-comey-firing/101878446/

“My memorandum is not a statement of reasons to justify a for-cause termination,’’ Rosenstein told lawmakers, according to prepared remarks released by the Justice Department Friday. “My memorandum is not a press release.’’


38 posted on 12/18/2017 6:34:39 PM PST by Golden Eagle (Trump: "What the FBI has done is really, really disgraceful, and a lot of people are very angry.")
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To: bigbob
but what the hell, 90% of what’s posted on FR these days is either blog or fake news crap.

some days it's downright depressing to read all the crap headlines here.

39 posted on 12/18/2017 6:35:19 PM PST by Balding_Eagle ( The Great Wall of Trump ---- 100% sealing of the border. Coming soon.)
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To: Golden Eagle

I see your points. Hopefully Rosenstein is bailing out the water slower than it is coming in.


40 posted on 12/18/2017 6:37:33 PM PST by laplata (Liberals/Progressives have diseased minds.)
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