Rod Rosenstein expects to be fired

By Brian Ries, Meg Wagner and Jessie Yeung, CNN

Updated 6:07 p.m. ET, September 24, 2018
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12:52 p.m. ET, September 24, 2018

Sarah Sanders: Rosenstein and Trump to meet Thursday

From CNN's Kevin Liptak

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders just issued a statement following in response to a number of inquiries about Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein's current status.

She writes:

“At the request of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, he and President Trump had an extended conversation to discuss the recent news stories. Because the President is at the United Nations General Assembly and has a full schedule with leaders from around the world, they will meet on Thursday when the President returns to Washington, D.C."
12:39 p.m. ET, September 24, 2018

Adam Schiff: "Under no circumstances should Rod Rosenstein resign"

12:27 p.m. ET, September 24, 2018

Former FBI official: If Rosenstein is out, I'm concerned about the Mueller probe

From CNN's Laura Jarrett

Andrew McCabe, the former deputy director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, said he's concerned about the fate of special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation if Deputy Attorney General leaves the department.

"There is nothing more important to the integrity of law enforcement and the rule of law than protecting the investigation of Special Counsel Mueller," he said in a statement.

He also pushed back against reports that in the day after FBI Director James Comey's May 2017 firing, Rosenstein discussed wearing a "wire" to record conversations with President Trump (CNN reported the story citing sources familiar with memos authored by McCabe).

"I had no role in providing information of any kind to the media stories about events following Director Comey's firing," McCabe said.

Here's his full story:

"There is nothing more important to the integrity of law enforcement and the rule of law than protecting the investigation of Special Counsel Mueller. I sacrificed personally and professionally to help put the investigation on a proper course and subsequently made every effort to protect it. To be clear, I had no role in providing information of any kind to the media stories about events following Director Comey's firing. If the rumors of Deputy AG's Rosenstein's departure are true, I am deeply concerned that it puts that investigation at risk."
12:28 p.m. ET, September 24, 2018

Rod Rosenstein's meeting with John Kelly is over, but he's still at the White House

The meeting between Chief of Staff John Kelly and Deputy Attorney Rod Rosenstein is over, CNN has learned.

We are working on finding out more information but in the meantime a source familiar tells us that Rosenstein is still at the White House attending a principals committee meeting already on the books.

12:03 p.m. ET, September 24, 2018

Rosenstein had expected to stay on through the midterms, people say

From CNN's Evan Perez

Like his boss, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Rosenstein long has expected that he would leave his post after the midterm elections, according to a source familiar with his thinking. 

For Rosenstein, staying put until early November was considered key to give Special Counsel Robert Mueller more time to try to complete his investigation. 

Rosenstein appeared to initially think his public denials in response to the news reports of his comments last year on recording the president and invoking 25th Amendment would be enough to remain on the job for the time being, according to people familiar with his thinking. 

As CNN reported this morning, Rosenstein and Kelly were in dispute about timing of a resignation.

With a likely departure on the horizon, even before the 2017 comments became public in news reports, Rosenstein has been trying to telegraph what he hopes his legacy would be remembered for. 

A speech at the Justice Department less than two weeks ago, strikes a somewhat defiant tone, given the attacks against the Justice Department and the FBI from the president and his congressional allies:

“Most people are familiar with the first clause of our oath, the requirement to ‘support and defend the Constitution.’ But some overlook the final clause: to ‘well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office.’

The first obligation is generic. It imposes a duty to pursue the national interest over any private interest. That applies equally to all government employees.

But the final clause is specific. Everybody recites the same words, but the meaning varies. In order to well and faithfully discharge the duties of “the” office, you need to understand the unique responsibilities of your office. What is the mandate of your agency; what is the mission of your component; and how do you add value?

You need to know what you stand for. In the words of a classic country song by Aaron Tippin, ‘You’ve got to stand for something, or you’ll fall for anything.’”

1:01 p.m. ET, September 24, 2018

Sources: Rosenstein told White House he would resign, work out details on Monday

From CNN's Laura Jarrett, Ariane de Vogue, and Kevin Liptak

On Friday, Rod Rosenstein and John Kelly met at the White House in the hours after the story broke and Kelly relayed to the deputy attorney general that the denial he issued earlier in the day was not sufficient. Kelly relayed a command to issue a firmer denial, which is how Friday's second statement came about.

Over the course of the last several days Rod Rosenstein spoke to John Kelly and said that he would resign. A second source says Rosenstein said he was “thinking” of resigning.

The two decided to work it out on Monday, according to the sources. One source said that the White House held off because they were dealing with the Kavanaugh situation this weekend. 

There were some matters in dispute including the White House refusing Rosenstein’s conditions regarding the timing of when he would leave on his own terms.

The White House says John Kelly was surprised when Rosenstein called Monday morning to say he is resigning, according to one of the sources.

But Justice officials continue to insist he headed to the White House this morning expected to be fired because he wouldn’t agree to the terms they wanted for his leaving.

11:43 a.m. ET, September 24, 2018

Rod Rosenstein is expecting to be fired

From CNN's Laura Jarrett and Kaitlan Collins

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is expecting to be fired, a source tells CNN, and he is set to meet with John Kelly at the White House soon.