President Donald Trump is considering the possibility of not dismissing Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein when the pair meets at the White House Thursday, a new report claims.
The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday evening Trump is telling some of his advisers he might keep Rosenstein in his job days after it was reported Rosenstein discussed the possibility of trying to remove Trump from office last year by wearing a wire and recording him saying something incriminating or invoking the 25th Amendment.
It was reported Monday that Rosenstein was planning to quit. Trump has yet to tell the second-ranked Department of Justice official what he plans to do with him.
According to the Journal, Trump wants to first hear what Rosenstein has to say about his alleged talk of making secret recordings and invoking the 25th Amendment, which gives members of the Cabinet the power to declare the president unfit to serve and remove him from office.
Trump has cooled on Rosenstein in the past because of the ongoing special counsel investigation that is looking at whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia, which Rosenstein is overseeing. It appears the two have mended fences.
Rosenstein denied he discussed recording Trump or tried to get him removed from office.
"The president is genuinely conflicted," a source close to Trump told the Journal. "He's got an open mind about whether Rod really tried to orchestrate this."
Additionally, the Journal reported Rosenstein talked to White House chief of staff John Kelly on Monday about setting up a meeting with Trump — who at the time was in New York for the United Nations General Assembly — that would allow him to lay out the reasons why he would resign. Thursday's meeting might focus on putting together the terms of Rosenstein's resignation.
Firing Rosenstein could also be problematic for Trump because of the Russia probe and for Republicans ahead of the November midterm elections as they try to keep control of the House and Senate.
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