Rep. Adam Schiff, the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, urged Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to remain in his job and instead force Donald Trump to fire him.
“Under no circumstances should Rod Rosenstein play into those aspirations by resigning,” Rep. Schiff said in an interview with MSNBC‘s Chris Hayes. “If the president is going to obstruct justice, he needs to own it.”
The Democratic congressman said that a Rosenstein resignation would give Trump some sense of cover in his ongoing crusade to end the Mueller investigation.
Firing Rosenstein, on the other hand, would be a blatant and undeniable form of obstruction.
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Video:
.@RepAdamSchiff doesn’t think Rod Rosenstein should resign. #ctl #p2 pic.twitter.com/rSIcoP2kVp
— PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) September 25, 2018
Rod Rosenstein is likely the only thing standing between Trump and crisis
When it comes to protecting Robert Mueller‘s special counsel investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia, there is likely no person more important than Rod Rosenstein.
As the investigation continues to tighten around the president and he desperately looks for ways to bring it to a conclusion, Trump appears to be zeroing in on Rosenstein in recent days.
A resignation from the deputy attorney general would give Trump the opportunity to pick somebody that could do his bidding and derail the Mueller investigation.
Firing Rosenstein, on the other hand, would open up even more legal questions for the president and be yet another exhibit in Mueller’s obstruction case against him.
As Rep. Schiff said on Monday, Rosenstein should call the president’s bluff and stay where he is – don’t give him the easy way out. If the president wants to fire him, then he’ll have to own those consequences.
In the meantime, members of Congress shouldn’t wait to see what Trump will do on Thursday. They should immediately pass legislation to protect Robert Mueller and the ongoing special counsel investigation before it’s too late.
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Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.
