Getty Rod Rosenstein was fired from his position as U.S. Attorney General on Monday.
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has been publicly accused of being the anonymous official who wrote an op-ed for The New York Times about a secret resistence within the White House– and he’s been accused by none other than Donald Trump Jr.
In the wake of a report by The New York Times alleging that Rosenstein had considered invoking the 25th Amendment earlier in the year, Donald Trump Jr. tweeted, “We likely have a winner in the search for ‘anonymous.’ Anything to subvert a president who is actually getting things done for America… for a change.”
Here’s what you need to know.
Rosenstein’s Connection to the 25th Amendment Is Likely the Cause of Donald Trump Jr.’s Accusation
Rosenstein has categorically denied the claims made in The New York Times, saying in a statement, “The New York Times’s story is inaccurate and factually incorrect. I will not further comment on a story based on anonymous sources who are obviously biased against the department and are advancing their own personal agenda. But let me be clear about this: Based on my personal dealings with the president, there is no basis to invoke the 25th Amendment.”
In the now-famous op-ed, titled “I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration” and published on September fifth, a self-described “senior” Trump official wrote, “It may be cold comfort in this chaotic era, but Americans should know that there are adults in the room. We fully recognize what is happening. And we are trying to do what’s right even when Donald Trump won’t.”
It’s likely that Donald Trump Jr. has accused Rosenstein of being the writer of the op-ed specifically because of the connection around the 25th Amendment. In the op-ed, the anonymous writer says, “Given the instability many witnessed, there were early whispers within the cabinet of invoking the 25th Amendment, which would start a complex process for removing the president. But no one wanted to precipitate a constitutional crisis. So we will do what we can to steer the administration in the right direction until — one way or another — it’s over.”
And in the report released by The New York Times on September 21, sources have claimed that Rosenstein “suggested” that he secretly tape Trump as a means of exposing the “chaos consuming the administration,” and that he also talked about potentially recruiting cabinet members to help him invoke the 25th Amendment.
In the past few weeks, several publications have made lists and speculations about who the source of the op-ed was, with one of the more popular guesses being Vice President Mike Pence. However, no one has yet confirmed that they are the source of the bombshell article.
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