Rod Rosenstein cuts and runs
Last week, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein revealed his true nature when he gave a speech in which he claimed Donald Trump was honest, blamed President Obama for the Trump-Russia scandal, and attacked the media. This came even as the media was exposing that Rosenstein essentially offered to help get Trump off the legal hook in exchange for getting to keep his job. Now Rosenstein is cutting and running.
Rod Rosenstein had been publicly stating for some time that he would remain on the job until new Attorney General William Barr had finished handling the Mueller report. Now that the redacted Mueller report has been released, it’s not a surprise to see Rosenstein submit his two weeks notice today. However, the timing here could be interpreted as interesting. Barr is scheduled to testify before the Senate this Wednesday and before the House this Thursday, and it’s already becoming clear that these hearings are going to be particularly controversial – to the point that Barr is threatening to skip the House hearing, even though it would result in him being held in contempt of Congress.
Now that Rosenstein has outed himself as a Trump lackey, it’s raised important questions about whether he oversaw the Mueller probe in a corrupt manner, and it means he’ll soon be hauled in to testify before Congress as well. But with Rosenstein submitting his two weeks notice right now, it’s possible he’ll be an ex-DOJ employee by the time he has to testify. That would make him more free to speak the truth, if anyone still believed that Rosenstein has any intention of being truthful.
Rod Rosenstein’s publicly released resignation letter makes a point of using the phrase “America first” – an unmistakable reference to Donald Trump’s campaign slogan. Rosenstein, despite leaving the Trump administration, is clearly pandering to Trump as blatantly as possible. America deserves to know why the outgoing Deputy Attorney General of the United States is publicly pledging his personal allegiance to Donald Trump.
