Deputy AG Rosenstein was on the verge of resigning, upset over WH pinning Comey firing on him
U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein was so upset with the White House for pinning the firing of FBI Director James Comey on him Wednesday that he was on the verge of resigning, an administration source told ABC News.
After Comey’s firing Tuesday night, White House officials said the president acted on the recommendation of Rosenstein.
Deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said on “Good Morning America” today that she was “not aware” of Rosenstein’s threatening to resign.
In his letter written to staff and friends after he was fired, Comey said he was not going to dwell on how his firing was handled.
“I’m not going to spend time on the decision or the way it was executed. I hope you won’t either. It is done,” Comey wrote. “In times of turbulence, the American people should see the FBI as a rock of competence, honesty and independence.”
In a memo delivered Tuesday afternoon to President Trump, Rosenstein wrote that Comey inflicted “substantial damage” to the FBI’s “reputation and credibility.”
The White House initially said Rosenstein’s recommendation was the reason Trump chose to fire Comey.
“When he brought the recommendation to the president that the director of the FBI should be removed, President Trump provided the kind of strong and decisive leadership the American people have become to be accustomed from him,” Vice President Mike Pence said Wednesday on Capitol Hill.
Press secretary Sean Spicer pointed the finger at the Justice Department when asked by ABC News late Tuesday night who ordered the review of Comey.
But Sanders said during Wednesday’s White House press briefing that Trump “made the decision for the final decision to move forward with it was yesterday. But I know that he’s been contemplating it for a while.”
When asked whether Comey’s firing was a result of Rosenstein’s memo, Sanders said, “That was, I think, the final piece that moved the president to make that quick and decisive action yesterday.”
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Deputy AG Rosenstein was on verge of resigning after Comey's firing, upset that White House pinned it on him https://t.co/CYF7WwoKfW
— ABC News (@ABC) May 11, 2017
"I'm not aware of his threatening to resign." – Sanders on Rosenstein's threat if WH failed to make point decision began with Pres. Trump pic.twitter.com/lTUD0dTKwM
— Good Morning America (@GMA) May 11, 2017
Department of Justice: Deputy Attorney General Didn’t Threaten to Resign and His Meeting With Senate Was Planned https://t.co/VrxSFQ2wjX pic.twitter.com/AL6dyxq1xH
— RedState (@RedState) May 11, 2017
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