Rod Rosenstein - LIVE: Deputy attorney general may resign or be fired by Trump at meeting as Noel Francisco waits in the wings
Noel Francisco - the current solicitor general - would be expected to take on oversight of the Russia probe
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Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who oversees Special Counsel Robert Mueller‘s investigation into Russia’s role in the 2016 presidential election, is due to meet with Donald Trump on Thursday amid reports he is “expecting to be fired”.
Mr Rosenstein, the number two official at the Justice Department, verbally resigned to White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, Axios reported.
A second source told Axios that Rosenstein is “expecting to be fired” so he plans to step down.
Other reports suggested that Mr Rosenstein would force Mr trump to fire him, if that was what was going to happen.
Trump faces mounting pressure from the investigation by Mr Mueller, who is looking into Russia’s role in the 2016 presidential election.
Mr Rosenstein assumed supervision of the probe after his boss, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, recused himself because of his own contacts with Russia’s ambassador to Washington while serving as a Trump campaign adviser became public.
There was widespread speculation that TMr rump would fire Mr Rosenstein after a New York Times report on Friday said in 2017 he had suggested secretly recording Mr Trump and recruiting Cabinet members to invoke a constitutional amendment to remove him from the office.
The Times said none of those proposals came to fruition. Mr Rosenstein denied the report as “inaccurate and factually incorrect.”
Reuters
Hello and welcome our coverage of the latest crisis in the White House.
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, is heading to the White House to meet with Chief of Staff John Kelly. It has been reported he is expecting to be fired - so may resign first.
Here is our latest report as we await confirmation of wither outcome:
As the man now overseeing Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian election meddling and possible collusion with Trump campaign officials, his departure will spar talk of a constitutional crisis, let alone fears over the Mueller probe.
Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe said on Monday he was "deeply concerned" about reports that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein was stepping down, saying his departure would put at risk the federal probe into Russian election activities.
"There is nothing more important to the integrity of law enforcement and the rule of law than protecting the investigation of Special Counsel (Robert) Mueller," McCabe said in a statement. "If the rumors of Deputy AG's Rosenstein's departure are true, I am deeply concerned that it puts that investigation at risk."
Mr McCabe was fired by US Attorney General Jeff Sessions in March after the Justice Department's internal watchdog accused him of misconduct. Mr McCabe said that he was targeted for being a witness into whether President Donald Trump tried to obstruct the probe into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
Some of Mr Trump’s allies urged him against firing Mr Rosenstein, suggesting he was in danger of walking into a trap. Sean Hannity, a broadcaster with Fox News who is a strident supporter of the president and who has interviewed him frequently, told his viewers: “I have a message for the president tonight. Under zero circumstances should the president fire anybody.”
He said he had “multiple sources” confirming the president’s enemies were “hoping and praying” Mr Trump fired someone so they could turn it into a scandal.
“The president needs to know it is all a setup,” Mr Hannity said. “He needs to know that regardless of whether he steps in or not, and I would argue he should definitely not, the deep state tonight is crumbling from within at this very hour.”
Rod Rosenstein has not resigned and is still serving as US deputy attorney general, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters - after the deputy AG met with chief of staff John Kelly.
In an interview that was recorded before Monday morning’s flurry of rumours and speculation, the president had left open the prospect that he might fire Mr Rosenstein.
“I don’t want to comment on it until I get all the facts,” Mr Trump said in an interview on “Geraldo in Cleveland” on WTAM radio in Cleveland that is set to air on Monday.
“I haven’t gotten all the facts, but certainly it’s being looked at in terms of what took place If anything took place and I’ll make a determination sometime later, but I don’t have the facts.”
Democratic congressman Adam Schiff, the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, said Mr Rosenstein should not step down from his post voluntarily, according to The Hill.
“Under no circumstances should Rod Rosenstein resign,” Mr Schiff tweeted. “This would place the Mueller investigation in even greater jeopardy. Rosenstein should continue to do his job, protect the independence of the DOJ, and if the President intends to obstruct justice, force Trump to fire him.”
Democratic congressman Elijah Cummings says if Mr Rosenstein is ousted, he wants an emergency meeting
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