Scoop: Besieged Sessions dines with Rosenstein in show of solidarity

Axios ^ | Feb 28, 2018 | staff

[Eddie01]

If Donald Trump finally follows through on his rage and fires Jeff Sessions, the image with this story will be printed in history books.

Tonight at 7:35pm, the Attorney General strode into a high-end Washington restaurant to dine with his deputy Rod Rosenstein and the Solicitor General Noel Francisco.

The symbolism was unmistakable: the three top ranking officials in the Justice Department appearing together in a show of solidarity on the same day Trump is publicly and privately raging about Sessions.

When Trump sees this photo he'll have to absorb a concept that some of his aides have been trying to impress upon him for nearly a year, since he first began telling them he wanted to get rid of Sessions.

The concept: Fire Sessions, then what next? Are you going to fire Rosenstein too? And then what after that?

Sources close to the situation say today feels different than Trump's usual rages. Sessions' allies are deeply concerned and Trump is totally fed up with his AG.

Trump has been taunting and publicly humiliating Sessions for months now, but his tweet this morning was as rough as any he's sent:

"Why is A.G. Jeff Sessions asking the Inspector General to investigate potentially massive FISA abuse. Will take forever, has no prosecutorial power and already late with reports on Comey etc. Isn’t the I.G. an Obama guy? Why not use Justice Department lawyers? DISGRACEFUL!"

[andmy_]

ROSENSTEIN recommended that Trump fire Comey. So disgusted with Sessions.

President Donald Trump followed the recommendation of his deputy attorney general when he fired FBI boss James Comey. What did Rod Rosenstein say? This is his letter in full.

Memorandum for the Attorney General

FROM: Rod J Rosenstein

SUBJECT: Restoring public confidence in the FBI

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has long been regarded as our nation's premier federal investigative agency. Over the past year, however, the FBI’s reputation and credibility have suffered substantial damage, and it has affected the entire Department of Justice. That is deeply troubling to many Department employees and veterans, legislators and citizens.

The current FBI Director is an articulate and persuasive speaker about leadership and the immutable principles of the Department of Justice. He deserves our appreciation for his public service. As you and I have discussed, however, I cannot defend the Director's handling of the conclusion of the investigation of Secretary Clinton's emails, and I do not understand his refusal to accept the nearly universal judgment that he was mistaken. Almost everyone agrees that the Director made serious mistakes; it is one of the few issues that unites people of diverse perspectives.

The director was wrong to usurp the Attorney General’s authority on July 5, 2016, and announce his conclusion that the case should be closed without prosecution. It is not the function of the Director to make such an announcement. At most, the Director should have said the FBI had completed its investigation and presented its findings to federal prosecutors. The Director now defends his decision by asserting that he believed attorney General Loretta Lynch had a conflict. But the FBI Director is never empowered to supplant federal prosecutors and assume command of the Justice Department. There is a well-established process for other officials to step in when a conflict requires the recusal of the Attorney General. On July 5, however, the Director announced his own conclusions about the nation's most sensitive criminal investigation, without the authorization of duly appointed Justice Department leaders.

Why is Sessions working against President Trump? Why?

[FreeReign]

Yes he has and all of those here, who say that Sessions is doing things well in secret/it’s just a “ploy”/playing 4D chess ( the STUPIDEST phrase ever and over used to boot )/that they “TRUST SESSIONS”/don’t want any of the rest of us to trash Sessions, etc., are THE singularly some of the most naive political naifs alive on planet Earth ever!

Absolutely right, nopardons.

[Noamie]

A business meeting of top brass? Yall realize that we, the taxpayers, probably paid the bill for this?

[mrsmith]

LOL! They never eat together?

Geez, if Axios used the picture to claim they met with knives in their hands you’d be excited about that.

[FreeReign]

Or, some possibility that 3 guys working in the same office got hungry after work.

Nothing to see here. Signing off on fraudulent FISC applications makes Rod and friends very hungry.

[andmy_]

Additional comments from Rosenstein’s recommendation for Trump to fire Comey:

Compounding the error, the Director ignored another longstanding principle: we do not hold press conferences to release derogatory information about the subject of a declined criminal investigation. Derogatory information sometimes is disclosed in the course of criminal investigations and prosecutions, but we never release it gratuitously. The Director laid out his version of the facts for the news media as if it were a closing argument, but without a trial. It is a textbook example of what federal prosecutors and agents are taught not to do.

In response to skeptical question at a congressional hearing, the Director defended his remarks by saying that his “goal was to say what is true. What did we do, what did we find, what do we think about it.” But the goal of a federal criminal investigation is not to announce our thoughts at a press conference. The goal is to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to justify a federal criminal

prosecution, then allow a federal prosecutor who exercises authority delegated by the Attorney General to make a prosecutorial decision, and then - if prosecution is warranted - let the judge and jury determine the facts. We sometimes release information about closed investigations in appropriate ways, but the FBI does not do it sua spent.

Concerning his letter to the Congress on October 28, 2016, the Director cast his decision as a choice between whether he would “speak” about the FBI’s decision to investigate the newly-discovered email messages or “conceal” it. “Conceal” is a loaded term that misstates the issue. When federal agents and prosecutors quietly open a criminal investigation, we are not concealing anything; we are simply following the longstanding policy that we refrain from publicizing non-public information. In that context, silence is not concealment.

My perspective on these issues is shared by former Attorneys General and Deputy Attorneys General from different eras and both political parties. Judge Laurence Silberman, who served as Deputy Attorneys General under President Ford, wrote that “it is not the bureau’s responsibility to opine on whether a matter should be prosecuted.” Silberman believes that the Director’s “Performance was so inappropriate for an FBI director that [he] doubt[s] the bureau will ever completely recover.” Jamie Gorelick, Deputy Attorney General under President George W. Bush, to opine that the Director had “chosen personally to restrike the balance between transparency and fairness, department from the department’s traditions.” They concluded that the Director violated his obligation to “preserve, protect and defend” the traditions of the Department and the FBI.

Former Attorney General Michael Mukasey, who served under President George W Bush, observed the Director “stepped way outside his job in disclosing the recommendation in that fashion” because the FBI director “doesn’t make that decision”. Alberto Gonzales, who also served as Attorneys General under President George W Bush, called the decision “an error in judgement.” Eric Holder, who served as Deputy Attorneys General under President Clinton and Attorneys General under President Obama, said that the Director’s decision “was incorrect. It violated long-standing Justice Department policies and traditions. And it ran counter to guidance that I put in place four years ago laying out the proper way to conduct investigations during an election season.” Holder concluded that the Director “broke with these fundamental principles” and “negatively affected public trust in both the Justice Department and the FBI”.

Former Deputy Attorneys General Gorelick and Thompson described the unusual event as “real-time, raw-take transparency taken to its illogical limit, a kind of reality TV of federal criminal investigation,” that is “antithetical to the interests of justice”.

Donald Ayer, who served as Deputy Attorneys General under President HW Bush, along with former Justice Department officials, was “astonished and perplexed” by the decision to “break[] with longstanding practices followed by officials of both parties during past elections.” Ayer’s letter noted, “Perhaps most troubling… is the precedent set by this departure from the Department’s widely-respected, non-partisan traditions.”

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.

Rod Rosenstein

[DoughtyOne]

Anyone pissed off at Session, please pay attention.

Send your objections to:

Darkest Corner, Swamp Central

C/O Department of Justice

Attorney General Jeff Sessions
950 Pennsylvania Ave Northwest
Suite # 409 20004
Washington, DC 20530

I've been promised your and everyone else letters will be filed right next to the Ark of the Covenant [ /s ]

[Karl Spooner]

I think Sessions might spend more time in prison than John Mitchell did.

[nopardons]

Thanks! :-)

[andmy_]

Next up...

Rosenstein writes a memo recommending Trump fire Sessions.

Mueller will be copied on said Recommendation

The DOJ is CORRUPT. Rosenstein, Session's direct report, recommended President Trump fire Comey.

Trump fires Comeny, and then hires Mueller to investigate why Trump fired Comey? Are you kidding? Mueller needs to be exposed outted now.

These political hacks are a JOKE.

Rosenstein recommends Trump fire Comey, which leads to then hiring Mueller to investigate if Trump obstructed justice by firing Comey who Rosenstein recommending that Trump fire?

Someone needs to fire Mueller, turn off his laptop access and FOR SURE stoop his monthly debit deposits into Mueller's checking account. This is a disgrace and We the People should NEVER being paying for Mueller's million dollar salary.

Rosenstein is a PUNK. He totally set President Trump up and Sessions is playing along. Why?

Make Mark Levin Attorney General. Please. and thank you.

[tennmountainman]

Sessions is having dinner with the man who really runs DOJ,
Rod Rosenweasel.

[Art in Idaho]

Why is Rosenstein still there? Buddy of Comey, set up the Special Counsel to cover for Comey, Hillary and Obama. He signed at least one of the FISA warrants. Sessions is either deep cover for Trump or complicit.

[Art in Idaho]

Make Mark Levin Attorney General. Please. and thank you.

Amen to that! Plus give him power to totally clean house and hire pitbulls to do real investigations. Boom!

[DoughtyOne]

That sounds about right, but I haven’t really engaged at the minutia level so far.

I’ve been through so many investigations, only to watch them go nowhere.

I’m a lot less willing to get vested than I used to be.

[andmy_]

Appears to be deep state at this point.

Such a shock for those who saw him as a good cop. Sessions appears to be anti-Trump which is more then a disappointment. It’s just so wrong to present oneself as a Patriot but really be a wolf in sheeps clothing. He should have NEVER recused. The Left would NEVER recuse. Sessions needs to resign for the good of the country. Rosenstein needs to be fired. Rosenstein set everything in motion by asking Trump to fire Comey and then setting up Mueller to investigate why Trump fired Comey.

This whole fake scenario needs to be called out. Which is what President Trump is doing. Trump will prevail, Bye Mueller, Bye. No more government funded paychecks for Mueller in 2018. EVER.

[morphing libertarian]

Maybe Rod’s gonna fire him and promote himself.

[Freedom56v2]

.The symbolism was unmistakable: the three top ranking officials in the Justice Department appearing together in a show of solidarity...

Speculation on the authors part. But hey if it gets me clicks.

---

Are you saying they were not aware of their high profile and the assumptions that would be made by media, etc.

Frankly, I would have liked to have seen Sessions dining with President Trump —and Sessions’ treat. That would have sent a less disturbing message ;(

[andmy_]

Sessions appears to be deep state at this point, unfortunately. Why would he sit back and let his Senate seat go to the Dems? McCaonnel asked Sessions to retake his seat. Was it about pride? So, so disappointing. It’s as if Sessions doesnt even know the rule of law? He recused when he should not have. Not he should unrecuse,now that he knows there was never a crime and all the Fisa court lies.

Such a shock for those who saw him as a good cop. Sessions appears to be anti-Trump which is more then a disappointment. It’s just so wrong to present oneself as a Patriot but really be a wolf in sheeps clothing. He should have NEVER recused. The Left would NEVER recuse. Sessions needs to resign for the good of the country. Rosenstein needs to be fired. Rosenstein set everything in motion by asking Trump to fire Comey and then setting up Mueller to investigate why Trump fired Comey.

This whole fake scenario needs to be called out. Which is what President Trump is doing. Trump will prevail, Bye Mueller, Bye. No more government funded paychecks for Mueller in 2018. EVER.

[andmy_]

Very disappointing. Sessions appears to be deep state. Very shocking turn of events. :(