With a Whimper, Rod Rosenstein Resigns

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is abandoning ship, and no one is surprised.

In fact, there has been talk for several months of Rosenstein’s resignation, with the word being that he would leave when special counsel Robert Mueller completed his report.

It was Rosenstein who appointed Mueller in May 2017, after President Trump admitted on national television that he’d attempted to obstruct the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, by firing FBI Director James Comey.

Oh, wait… We’re not supposed to call that obstruction, are we?

Rosenstein had oversight of Mueller’s work, due to then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions recusing himself, after it was revealed he’d had his own undisclosed communications with Russian officials.

Both Sessions and Rosenstein were targeted by Trump and his frothing minions, due to their refusal to step in and stop the investigation.

Sessions weathered the attacks, right up to the point he was forced out of the administration by the man he helped get elected.

Rosenstein, according to a report released on Friday, groveled for his job.

Rosenstein reportedly remarked about secretly wearing a wire while interacting with the president, in order to capture material that would prove helpful in a 25^th Amendment case.

For those wondering, the 25^th Amendment allows for the removal of a president deemed to be “unfit” for whatever reason.

Apparently, it caused quite the stir, with Trump and all of Trumpland going apoplectic.

According to an article with the Washington Post:

On a call with Trump, who was in New York and looking for an explanation in response to the Times report, Rosenstein attempted to assure the President that Rosenstein was on Trump’s team, people familiar with the matter told the Post. He criticized the Times report and blamed it on former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe, according to the Post.

He told Trump he would make sure he was treated fairly in Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, the Post reports, citing people familiar with the conversation.

“I give the investigation credibility,” Rosenstein told Trump, according to an administration official offering their own characterization of the call to the Post. “I can land the plane.”

So here’s the thing about that word, “fair” and Donald Trump.

Usually, nothing will be seen as “fair” to Trump, unless it provides excessive favor to him.

Facts, details, nor the law matter.

You have to imagine this made things even more uncomfortable for Rosenstein, even after his promise to the president to be a Trump team player.

Is that why the deputy AG looked like the subject of a hostage video, while standing behind Attorney General William Barr, as he gave his ridiculous press conference, regarding Mueller’s final report earlier in April?

Something went on. After the mountain of abuse Rosenstein endured, his resignation letter reads like a Patty Hearst-styled manifesto.

“I am grateful to you for the opportunity to serve; for the courtesy and humor you often display in our personal conversations; and for the goals you set in your inaugural address: patriotism, unity, safety, education, and prosperity, because ‘a nation exists to serve its citizens,’” Rosenstein wrote in his resignation letter. He said his last day at the Justice Department would be May 11.

Pure Stockholm Syndrome material.

Rosenstein wrote in the letter to Trump on Monday that the Justice Department has made “rapid progress” in achieving his law enforcement agenda in the first two years of the Trump administration, including reducing violent crime and opioid abuse and cracking down on illegal immigration.

“Our nation is safer, our elections are more secure, and our citizens are better informed about covert foreign influence efforts and schemes to commit fraud, steal intellectual property, and launch cyberattacks,” Rosenstein wrote.

“We also pursued illegal leaks, investigated credible allegations of employee misconduct, and accommodated congressional oversight without compromising law enforcement interests,” he wrote.

I’m sure that will deflect some heat.

Interestingly enough, others speaking out on the report of Rosenstein pleading for his job say what he did was not only weak, but unethical.

He gave assurances to Trump, in regards to an investigation into potential wrongdoing on the part of his campaign, and did so as a bargaining tool for his own job.

Apparently, it was enough to get him the stamp of approval from President Trump’s new fixer, William Barr.

In a statement, Barr praised Rosenstein for serving the Justice Department “with dedication and distinction” and described Rosenstein’s devotion to the department and its employees as “unparalleled.”

“Rod has been an invaluable partner to me during my return to the Department, and I have relied heavily on his leadership and judgment over the past several months,” Barr said. “I have appreciated the opportunity to work closely with him, and I wish him well in his future endeavors.  The Department and I will miss him.”

I guess so. Every man in a seat of power needs a good door mat.