Reports have emerged from Washington DC on Monday that Donald Trump is set to fire his Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
Other reports suggest that Rosenstein has resigned, or indeed, resigned before Trump had the chance to fire him.
Associated Press originally reported that Rosenstein had been summoned to the White House and expected to be fired. Axios reported shortly afterwards that Rosenstein had “verbally resigned”.
Either way, Rosenstein is out of a job, which could jeopardise the Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.
Rosenstein, in May 2017, appointed Special Counsel Mueller to head up the Russia investigation — which sees Trump under investigation for obstruction of justice, as part of a wider concern that Russia colluded with his presidential campaign.
As Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from all matters involving the investigation, Rosenstein is the only person with the authority to fire Mueller, and he has indicated no willingness to do so, despite Trump’s repeated assertions that the investigation is a “witch hunt”.
The Latest: Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is expecting to be fired at the White House, after critical comments about President Trump. https://t.co/MvbBhDBgyf
— The Associated Press (@AP) September 24, 2018
The removal of Rosenstein from the office of Deputy Attorney General puts Mueller’s investigation in danger, as Trump will nominate Rosenstein’s replacement.
The events are reminiscent of the ‘Saturday Night Massacre’ — the evening that Richard Nixon fired his Attorney General, and his deputies, until he found someone willing to fire Archibald Cox, the Special Counsel investigating Watergate. It was this move that set into motion a chain of events that ultimately resulted in Nixon’s resignation.
The White House is yet to comment on Rosenstein’s departure.
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