Now we know why Donald Trump hasn’t even tried to fire Jeff Sessions or Rod Rosenstein
Even as Special Counsel Robert Mueller continues to build a criminal case against Donald Trump while picking off his alleged co-conspirators, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has been the key to keeping it all going. Rosenstein has had the final authority of the Trump-Russia investigation ever since Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself under pressure last year. Now we’re learning why Trump hasn’t even bothered to try firing Sessions or Rosenstein in an effort at sabotaging the investigation: it wouldn’t do him any good.
The theory has always gone that if Trump fired Sessions, he could appoint a new Attorney General who doesn’t have a conflict of interest, and who could retake control of the Trump-Russia investigation from Rosenstein, for the purpose of shutting it down. But partway through a lengthy New York Times article which otherwise largely just recaps how much Trump hates and abuses Sessions, there’s a key piece of information.
It turns out the Senate Republican leadership told Donald Trump a long time ago that if he fired Jeff Sessions, they wouldn’t be willing to approve any new Attorney General in his place. The article doesn’t spell out the specific reason, but it’s not difficult to logically deduce. Sessions just finished spending decades in the Senate, and his GOP former colleagues there are trying to protect his job out of personal loyalty.
So if Trump fired Jeff Sessions, there would be no new Attorney General. Rod Rosenstein would indefinitely become Acting Attorney General, and he would retain control of the investigation. Even if Trump then tried to fire Rosenstein, some other career DOJ official would become the new Acting AG by default. Trump wouldn’t be able to insert one of his cronies into the role. There would be no point in even trying. So Rod Rosenstein’s job is safe, and so is the Trump-Russia investigation, because Senate Republicans want to make sure their racist criminal friend Jeff Sessions gets to keep his job. Welcome to 2018.
