Former White House strategist Stephen Bannon has been trying to get President Trump's attention with his plan to neuter Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, The Washington Post reports, and since he's on the outs with Trump, Bannon "has huddled in recent days — at his Capitol Hill townhouse, a Washington hotel, and over the phone — with a handful of White House aides, GOP lawmakers, and conservative media figures who speak frequently with Trump." The first step of his plan: Fire Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
It isn't clear who Bannon has spoken with about his plan, which he is pitching as the least politically damaging way to take the heat off Trump, but Trump confidante Roger Stone told ABC News on Wednesday that the president should fire Rosenstein (and Attorney General Jeff Sessions), and Trump's favorite pundits offered the same counsel on Trump's favorite network, Fox News, Wednesday night. Trump was probably watching, as he tweeted for all his followers to watch Hannity. On the show, Newt Gingrich compared the Rosenstein-approved FBI raid on Trump fixer Michael Cohen as akin to "Stalin" and "the Gestapo in Germany."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Ukraine: Trump's mixed messagesFeature Trump reverses a Pentagon freeze on Patriot missiles to Ukraine as Russia ramps up air attacks
-
Diddy: An abuser who escaped justice?Feature The jury cleared Sean Combs of major charges but found him guilty of lesser offenses
-
Death from above: Drones upend rules of war in UkraineFeature The world's militaries are paying close attention to drone use in the Russia-Ukraine war
-
Secret Service 'failures' on Trump shootingSpeed Read Two new reports detail security breakdowns that led to attempts on the president's life
-
Trump set to hit Canada with 35% tariffsSpeed Read The president accused Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney of failing to stop the cross-border flow of fentanyl
-
Mahmoud Khalil files $20M claim over ICE detentionSpeed Read This is the 'first damages complaint' brought by an individual targeted by the Trump's administration's 'crackdown' on Gaza war protesters
-
Trump threatens Brazil with 50% tariffsSpeed Read He accused Brazil's current president of leading a 'witch hunt' against far-right former leader Jair Bolsonaro
-
AI scammer fakes Rubio messages to top officialsSpeed Read The unknown individual mimicked Rubio in voice and text messages sent to multiple government officials
-
SCOTUS greenlights Trump's federal firingsspeed read The Trump administration can conduct mass federal firings without Congress' permission, the Supreme Court ruled
-
New tariffs set on 14 trading partnersSpeed Read A new slate of tariffs will begin August 1 on imports from Japan, South Korea, Thailand and more
-
Elon Musk launching 'America Party'Speed Read The tech mogul promised to form a new political party if Trump's megabill passed Congress
