Because of Cohen raid, Trump is reportedly mulling firing Rod Rosenstein

Rod Rosenstein.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

In response to the FBI raid of his personal lawyer's home, office, and hotel room on Monday, President Trump is considering firing Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, several people with knowledge of the discussions told CNN.

After he heard about the raid targeting Michael Cohen, executed by the U.S. attorney's office for the Southern District of New York, Trump declared that it was a ruse and said he believed Special Counsel Robert Mueller was actually behind it, one person told CNN. Trump has complained that top officials at the Justice Department are not doing enough to protect him during Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, which Rosenstein oversees. Two officials said the raid might be the tipping point that pushes him to act, and if he's going to actually fire anyone, it would probably be Rosenstein.

Trump has been warned by at least one top Republican in Congress not to fire Rosenstein, a senior administration official said, but his legal advisers are telling him that they could argue there is a conflict of interest because Rosenstein is a potential witness in the Mueller investigation, having written a memo used to justify Trump's firing of former FBI Director James Comey last year. Read more about Trump's Rosenstein-induced rage at CNN.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.