Does anyone here at DU know why Rod Rosenstein decided to be a hero and try to save The Republic?

[NewsCenter28]

No one was going to investigate the firing of Comey if he hadn't appointed a Special Counsel so I don't really buy the theory that he appointed Mueller just because he didn't want Trump to blame him for firing Comey and say it was all his fault. Remember, at the time that SC Mueller was appointed, it was said Rosenstein just didn't want the Comey fallout to land on him and that's why he did such.

Is it just something as simple as he's a very law-and-order type guy, he sees that Trump is a criminal buffoon, and so he is determined to bring him down the same way any prosecutor might want to bring down a high profile target they are assigned to investigate? Is it just that he likes to bring down bad guys?

Or, if not, what's really going on here? Why he is going to the mat to take down Trump?

[rickford66]

1. Cause it's his job ?

[Stallion]

3. Because He Doesn't want to go down in History as a BORK

https://goo.gl/images/Rh3GgT

[orangecrush]

2. INTEGRITY

[Freethinker65]

6. +1

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. He's doing his job.

[NewsCenter28]

9. You're ignoring the fact that

No other Republican has shown integrity in this Russia scandal. No other Republican, Ryan, McConnell, Graham, Cornyn, Gowdy, has acted with even the slightest bit of integrity or respect for the rule of law in the Russian investigation.

That's extraordinary and makes what Rosenstein is doing extraordinary.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

20. Rosenstein isn't in Congress like the people you listed. While he might be a Republican

as far as his voting record is concerned, he's not a politician. As the Deputy AG he's supposed to act in a neutral and apolitical fashion, which is exactly what he's doing.

[GulfCoast66]

45. How about Mueller himself?

He is a republican

[quartz007]

5. The Republic is not saved until......

Trump is forced/impeached and is no longer the POTUS.
Prosecuting Cohen for bank fraud is far from saving the republic.

[unblock]

10. the republic only gets to catch its breath if donnie is kicked to the curb.

the republic will remain under attack by the republican party, foxnews, the kochs and other billionaires, and of course putin.

we have a long way to go before we are saved.

kicking donnie out is merely a necessary first step.

[quartz007]

19. All correct, and waiting for the first step

to happen. I doubt anything will happen unless congress turns democratic in November election. Because the repug house majority is never going to pass articles of impeachment.

[unblock]

22. it remains very much against the odds, but not impossible.

i agree that republicans are sort to see impeaching a president of their own party as shooting themselves in the foot and why on earth would they ever do that.

however, it is possible that donnie may become too toxic, at which point republicans might decide that it might be better to have president pence going into the midterms and 2020.

it's astounding that donnie isn't politically dead already, but he could still get there by firing mueller, or simply by the release of damning criminal evidence. this may catch everyone by surprise, if say, schneiderman indicts him for new york state tax evasion or money laundering or fraud.

people are so focused on mueller that they forget donnie's very likely to have violated state laws as well.


republicans would still prefer to privately talk donnie into resigning rather than having to actually remove him, but if he loses foxnews and popularity goes down below 20% or so, then republicans will see impeachment and removal as a win for themselves.

[quartz007]

25. Are you shocked as I am

that Rump's poll numbers have actually gone up slightly?

[unblock]

28. Not overly obsessed with small, short term poll movements.

But I think he did get a boost from xi, who gave Donnie's trade war madness some credibility.

[Loki Liesmith]

29. Honestly

No one was moved by that announcement. I doubt if more than 1% of people knew of it.

[unblock]

32. Honestly I'm not sure what to attribute these small movements to

There's some vague several day delayed correlation with the overall tone of the news cycle, but I don't know whose mind is shifting at this stage based on current events.

I think a lot is just polling noise.

In any event, the small movements don't much change the dynamics.

We need to peel off a larger chunk of trumpies. It's gonna take something bigger than outrageous statements. It's gonna take a damning revelation from mueller.

[NanceGreggs]

38. My thoughts as well.

Republicans have been playing The Big Stall - hoping to hold things together until the midterms. Once the votes are in and the damage is done, Trump is expendable. And I'm sure they'd rather spend the next two years pushing President Pence rather than Toxic Trump in the lead-up to 2020.

But he becomes more toxic every day - and every deranged comment, every scatter-brained pronouncement, every brain-dead decision, every inane tweet is associated not only with him, but with the Republican party.

They don't give a shit about the country. But they sure care about their party's political power - and Trump is tarnishing their "brand", which is losing them votes. They know the Blue Tsunami is coming - and they know it's a backlash against the Idiot.

They want Mueller to get rid of Trump for them. But the way things are currently escalating, he can do a lot of damage to the GOP brand between now and November. I believe that the PTB in the GOP are weighing their options rights now - and the most obvious one is convincing the Idiot to resign. What happens to him after that is of no concern to them - he'll be gone, and they can try to rehabilitate their brand before the 2020 elections.

As for getting the die-hard Trump supporters to switch their allegiance to Pence, they know they're dealing with the most easily-manipulated segment of the electorate. They convinced Evangelicals that Trump is a model Christian - they know that given enough time, they can talk these people into anything.

[unblock]

44. that's it exactly. they want donnie gone, but they can't be seen to have had a hand in it.

ideal is for donnie to resign. next best is for mueller to nail donnie and his cronies. that lets republicans try to say the party is great, it was all just donnie. a few bad apples.

worse is for democrats to win either or both houses in congress, who then launch further embarrassing investigations. that stretches it out and keeps the damage going in the public sphere, but at least it lets republicans paint it as partisan.

so bad it's nearly impossible to imagine is republicans going head-to-head against donnie to push him out. if they need him gone, they'll try desperately to do it quietly, behind the scenes.

[BzaDem]

7. Why are you assuming an agenda?

What if he is just trying to do his job honorably? I think he was deeply mistaken when he decided to write the memo about Comey, but that doesn't mean he was acting maliciously when he did so.

Once Comey was fired and information was leaked pointing to Trump attempting to meddle in investigations, appointing a special counsel was the obvious decision. These types of circumstances are why special counsels exist.

[NewsCenter28]

11. Why is this post being assumed to be critical of Rosenstein?

That was not my intent, and if I have implied that Rosenstein is doing something nefarious, I deeply and sincerely apologize. I meant no such thing. I mean that. Again, my humble apologies if I came across that way and I am so VERY sorry.

What I meant is that Rosenstein is showing integrity in Washington where no other Republican, none at all, has with respect to this investigation, and that is an extraordinary thing and something that we should be all deeply grateful for.

Sorry for offending you all. I deeply mean that!

And for the record, Rosenstein is a long-time Republican appointee and clearly not part of the non-existent "deep state" that Trump nutsos go on about.

[BzaDem]

16. I wasn't offended; just asking a question. I didn't assume you meant Rosenstein was pro Trump.

"he sees that Trump is a criminal buffoon, and so he is determined to bring him down"

That would be an illicit motive for someone like Rosenstein to have. I thought you were basically saying "surely there has to be some unstated overarching motive explaining this."

Someone in Rosenstein's position who is acting honorably does not make decisions in vacuum. He can't just form a snap judgement of Trump as "good" or "bad" and let such a judgement influence his decisions. There are decades of norms and precedents that play a big role. As a result, even if his gut told him that Trump was a criminal, that shouldn't play a role.

That is likely why he did not appoint a special counsel before Comey's firing (when Democrats were calling for one), but did so after. Comey's firing changed the calculus, in a way that necessitated appointing a special counsel. Similarly, he likely approved the seeking of a warrant against Cohen because of damning evidence well exceeding the threshold of probable cause -- not because he has some master plan to get Trump. If the evidence were significantly less compelling, he likely would not have approved seeking the warrant.

Of course, I'm not saying not everyone in the justice department acts impartially and honorably. (See Nixon's attorney general, for example.) I'm just saying that I have seen nothing to indicate Rosenstein is acting with an ulterior motive in either direction.

[NewsCenter28]

18. Thanks a lot

That explains things to me. Basically, some people are willing to act in a professional nonpartisan rather than through a hyperpartisan lens. I am so deeply cynical that I don't even realize it! I guess Bush V Gore in 2000 traumatized me so much that I didn't think there was a single Republican left that was willing to actually do their job as the constitution dictates rather than carry out every action after running it through a hyperpartisan lens first.

[whathehell]

30. Mueller is a Republican and he's showing integrity too.

[quartz007]

46. Mueller is a Bush/country-club type republican

and since Bushes hate Trump with gusto, I can not imagine Mueller likes Trump in any shape of form.

[whathehell]

47. I'd say he's a lot more than that

and that his investigation of Trump goes far beyond any personal feelings he might have about him.

Robert Mueller is a decorated war hero who gave up a cushy job in a private law firm to work in public service. The man has integrity.

[quartz007]

48. I have no doubt Mueller has integrity

Only that his record as FBI director is not exactly pristine. IIRC he made some boo-boo's after 911 & Boston marathon bombings.

[whathehell]

49. Yep

and if pristine = perfect, no one is.

[JI7]

34. Mueller is a Republican also .

[magicarpet]

40. Yes I think Rosenstein is just the facts, down to bidness...

... no playing around attitude with tRdump was when tRdump and Sessions coned Rosenstein in to writing the Comey letter to record his version of events about the way Comey did his job. And then tRdump took the Rosenstein letter to claim Comey's termination was based upon a desire for Rosenstein to fire him. Rosenstein was very offended because that was not true. And was angry at tRdump for having spun reality to the extent. He threatened to quit if tRdump did not retract the blatant lie. Then tRdump admitted his motive to fire Comey involved the Russia probe and Comey refused to drop it.

Rosenstein there after seemed to be watch tRdump carefully and do everything by the book - straight lace and brass taxes - close all loop holes of ambiguity in dealing with tRdump. Or tRdump will take reality and spin it into an elaborate concocted story that serves tRdumps agenda best.

Rosenstein became aware quickly if you leave loose ends around Donald - Donald will weave the loose ends together to fashion as a noose to place around your neck and hang you when tRdump needs a scape goat.

No loose ends, no ambiguity, no fooling around. Strictly down to business and down to brass taxes in any dealings or interactions with Mr. TRdump or he takes advantage of any good natured act then tosses you under the bus and gleefully runs over you.

This is the reason why Rosenstein does not mess around with The Donald. If you do mess around, tRdump the buffoon lights his ass on fire, and then he conveniently dumps the blame in your lap. Rosenstein is too smart to play tRdump's game.

Rosenstein likely loaths tRdump, like the Intel guys at the CIA and FBI do, but would never broadcast that publicly.But Rosenstein won't give tRdump one inch of wiggle room - he knows better to do that now.

[YessirAtsaFact]

8. Because he is a member of the deep state

Otherwise known as a dedicated public servent

[manor321]

12. He probably saw very damning evidence

Remember that these guys know a lot that we don't yet know. I think evidence of crimes is very clear to them.

[NewsCenter28]

14. That's a good argument

He knows the extent of Trump's crimes, but Ryan and McConnell undoubtedly do as well. Graham does. Goodlatte does. Gowdy does. They could all care less. Rosenstein is the only one that seems to care. That says a lot about his character and a lot about the KGOP character conversely.

[unblock]

17. when it all comes out, it will be really incredible, the difference between donnie and both clintons

they investigated bill and hillary for all sorts of things and found nothing good enough, so they pulled dirty tricks in a civil case (the first and only such case against a sitting president ever) and funded it, not only enough to go to the supreme court with it, but also no doubt to pay jones to refuse to settle with clinton prematurely, as surely he tried to do.

eventually they engineers an actual perjury trap, by presenting bill with a twisted definition of sexual relations that let him answer that technically, no, he didn't have that with monica lewinski, when in fact the people who engineered that definition knew that he had done things that most people commonly think of as sexual relations. that was considered evasive enough for republicans to cry "perjury" and they impeached him for that.

hillary lost the election primarily due to the fabricated pseudo-scandal outrage that she set up a private server to handle emails, exactly as her two predecessors in her post did, and a teeny tiny portion of emails that went through that server turned out to have information that wasn't marked classified, but probably should have been. absent insane political treatment, this would ordinarily get a minor warning at worst and some guidelines on how to improve security.


in both cases, these were very, very dubious cases in terms of "high crimes and misdemeanors" or things that should cost the presidency.


donnie, on the other hand, quite likely *very obviously* committed many massive crimes and left behind huge trails of evidence.

he could wind up getting charged with a number of crimes at both the federal and state level for crimes related to his businesses (fraud, e.g.); tax evasion; campaign reporting violations; campaign financing violations; espionage; conspiracy; accepting bribes; obstruction of justice; and abuse of power.

and i think these will be so far over the line that it will eventually be impossible for reasonable people to deny it, though for a while many unreasonable people will try.


the difference is staggering.

democrats need to be nearly perfect, while republicans can allllmost get away with murder.

[BootinUp]

13. Maybe he comprehended his oath. nt

[NewsCenter28]

15. Also maybe he comes from the

Bush, Nicole Wallace, Rick Wilson, and Steve Schmidt version of the Republican party that recognizes what Trump truly is. That may play a role also. It's appalling that the entire congressional KGOP was willing to sell their souls to the devil though.

[snort]

21. Most people aren't corrupt.

It takes an effort to surround yourself with corrupt people.

[jberryhill]

52. +1

It’s sometimes unnerving how many people think everyone else is corrupt.

Makes you wonder.

[Cha]

23. Good question.. I wondered

myself!

Mahalo, NewsCenter

[pnwmom]

24. I think by the time DT fired Comey, the evidence about his misdeeds

had already started to pile up.

And then he obstructed justice. Rosenstein did what you would expect a dedicated prosecutor to do.

[FreepFryer]

26. His oath to uphold the law. (n/t)

[madaboutharry]

27. He is honoring his oath

to defend The Constitution and the rule of law. That is his job.

[dem4decades]

31. While Mueller will probably be Time's Person of the Year

He should share it with Rosenstein. That guy has balls. .

[JI7]

33. he was doing his job. it should be the norm, not something heroic and out of the ordinary

although i might consider christopher steele heroic .

[tableturner]

35. Was not going to go down in history as the guy who let the rule of law be defeated.

[meadowlander]

36. He's only 53 and would presumably like to have a career

after the flaming dumpster fire of the current administration is extinguished.

[Hekate]

37. He's doing his freaking job and upholding his oath...

It's going to take a lot of people, including journalists, risking their lives and careers to expose and bring down Trump and Trumpists. They have to really believe in the mission.

[Hassler]

39. He doesn't want to go to jail and it's his job?

[Kentonio]

41. Worth remembering that Trump had just screwed him over Comey

He got him to write that memo setting out a case for firing Comey, and then initially told the press he only did it because Rosenstein and Sessions had recommended it.

Mueller felt like Rosenstein’s way of a) showing he wasn’t complicit in any obstruction of justice regarding the Russia investigation, and b) bitchslapping the guy who had just tried to screw him.

Maybe that’s cynical, but that was my reading of it.

[NCTraveler]

42. Ive never seen him as a hero.

Or Mueller. Pretty sad that we consider competence and professionalism to be heroic.

[kacekwl]

43. Nothing heroic, maybe just maybe

he is an honest man who knows what his job is and is doing it. We can hope.

[oberliner]

50. Let's not get carried away

He is basically just doing his job.

[beachbum bob]

51. the simple answers is its his fricken job and believe or not, people can do their job inspite of wha

political ideologues believe....here in DU or on foxnews

[Squinch]

53. I think he got used bad by Trump and his flying monkeys. They had him write the memo

on how Comey screwed up the Hillary investigation, and then threw him under the bus by saying that memo was the reason for the Comey firing, and Rosenstein was the author of it.

I think that showed him who they were and what they were up to. I think he must have some personal motivation to stop the person who did that. That being said, I will be eternally grateful that he is one of the 5% of Republicans who are showing themselves to be actual citizens of our country, rather than pillagers of our country.

[duforsure]

54. Rosenstein,

I think he is acting for the rule of law, and the country, instead of bowing down to trump and all his threats, and uses the Constitution and the laws to do his job. He has integrity, morals, and ethics to also do his job with, unlike anyone in this administration does, and will be remembered for his service to the people and this country over being intimidated or bullied by trump for trump justice, where only he and his family and friends are above the rule of law. Rosenstein I think is more than smart enough to know what trump is, and what he's trying to do, and has been way ahead of trump every time. If Trump fires him he'll be done, and it'll all be coming crashing down on him and others. Rosenstein will help them bring him and others down, in one position or another.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

55. Because the idea that identifying as a Republican automatically deletes ones humanity is EVIL

Dehumanizing the opposition is common but fraught with pitfalls. Most of us do it, me included when I call out "Trumpanzees" for example.

But there are some on DU who go too far, much too far. They post as if they believe that anyone who calls themself a Republican has forfeited any claim to humanity. That is exactly the kind of rhetoric used in Rwanda before and during the hideous massacres that killed hundreds of thousands only a few years ago. It is the same kind of rhetoric that led to ordinary German citizens participating in the Holocaust decades ago.

Yes, there are a few "Republicans", very few, who are so far gone into White Supremacy and hatred that they use violence and have dehumanized themselves. But it is a grave error to binary-think and publicly express sentiments that all Republicans are sub-human.

On this progressive, Democratic, liberal site we are better than that. Let's prove it.

Thank you, OP, for posting.

[Tavarious Jackson]

56. After Comey was fired and leaked his memo's it was protocol

Comey knew that since he once held that job. Rosenstein has no choice.