The FBI reportedly took Rosenstein's comments about wiretapping Trump seriously

Rod Rosenstein may not be out of the woods just yet.

A new report from The Washington Post indicates that Rosenstein's apparent suggestion in 2017 that he secretly record President Trump was actually taken quite seriously at the time. After reports emerged last month that Rosenstein made this comment, some suggested he was just being sarcastic. Indeed, that was the defense Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani offered to The Washington Post this week.

But according to the new report, Rosenstein's idea wasn't seen as a joke by Andrew McCabe, then-acting FBI director, who immediately took it to the FBI's top lawyer, James Baker. And now, The Washington Post reports Baker told congressional investigators last week that Rosenstein's comments were presented to him as being serious by senior FBI officials, although he was not personally at the meeting where the comments were made. While Baker reportedly said that Rosenstein wasn't making an official request, he was still "very serious."

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After The New York Times originally reported on Rosenstein's 2017 comments, the deputy attorney general apparently went to the White House expecting to be fired, and reports emerged that he had offered to resign. He ended up staying in his job and met with Trump for 30 minutes on Monday, after which Trump said he had no plans to fire him.

According to The Washington Post, Trump's advisers have warned him not to fire Rosenstein until after the midterms, as it would create the impression that he is trying to obstruct justice seeing as Rosenstein oversees Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe. Whether Trump will keep Rosenstein around after the midterms remains to be seen.