The Washington Post reports Attorney General Jeff Sessions told the White House if President Trump fires Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, he might have to resign.
Sessions made his position known in a phone call to White House counsel Donald McGahn last weekend, as Trump’s fury at Rosenstein peaked after the deputy attorney general approved the FBI’s raid April 9 on the president’s personal attorney Michael Cohen.
Sessions’s message to the White House, which has not previously been reported, underscores the political firestorm that Trump would invite should he attempt to remove the deputy attorney general. While Trump also has railed against Sessions at times, the protest resignation of an attorney general — which would be likely to incite other departures within the administration — would create a moment of profound crisis for the White House.
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The relationship between Sessions and Rosenstein — and their staffs — has been strained at times over the first year of the Trump administration. But people familiar with Sessions’s thinking say that he has said several times that he would find it difficult to remain as attorney general if Trump fired for no good reason the veteran prosecutor in Baltimore that Sessions chose to be his deputy. The two men, along with Solicitor General Noel Francisco, were spotted in February dining together at a restaurant near the Justice Department, generating some speculation that they were attempting a display of solidarity.
Sessions revelation to McGahn reportedly emerged during a call Sessions made to find out what happened when Rosenstein visited the White House on April 12th.
Sessions expressed relief to learn that their meeting was largely cordial. Sessions said he would have had to consider leaving as the attorney general had Trump ousted Rosenstein, this person said.
Another person familiar with the exchange said Sessions did not intend to threaten the White House but rather wanted to convey the untenable position that Rosenstein’s firing would put him in.
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Trump had told senior officials last week that he was considering firing Rosenstein, who was confirmed by the Senate with overwhelming bipartisan support last year. Since then, alumni of the Justice Department have rallied to Rosenstein’s defense.
As of Friday afternoon, more than 800 former Justice Department employees had signed an open letter calling on Congress to “swiftly and forcefully respond to protect the founding principles of our Republic and the rule of law” if Trump were to fire the deputy attorney general, special counsel Robert S. Mueller III or other senior Justice Department officials.
Sessions told White House that Rosenstein’s firing could prompt his departure, too (WaPo)