Category: TOPICS

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Rod Rosenstein: Will He Resign? Will He Be Fired? Will We Know?

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein’s expected departure may not feel exactly like a surprising news story. There was speculation during the summer that Trump might fire Rosenstein after the FBI raided the home of Michael Cohen, Trump’s former personal lawyer. What stands out at this point about the possibility of Rod Rosenstein’s leaving is the recent alternating news about his mode of departure.

First, the news came over the weekend that Rod Rosenstein was about to be fired in the aftermath of a story that appeared in The New York Times. According to the Times, after Trump’s firing of former FBI director James Comey in early 2017, Rod Rosenstein had allegedly suggested invoking the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office. Rosenstein also reportedly talked about secretly recording Trump’s conversations. Rosenstein has denied both allegations.

Later, on Monday, it was reported that Rosenstein was going to resign because he expected to be fired. He visited the White House on Monday, and met with Chief of Staff John Kelly, as well as speaking with Donald Trump, who was in New York when they spoke.

At the end of Monday, however, Rosenstein’s job was still intact. He will meet in person with Trump on Thursday, September27.

In anticipation of Rod Rosenstein’s expected departure one way or the other, is the White House trying to blur the public’s impression about whether Rosenstein was fired or whether he resigned?

Something important to remember is this, from The Atlantic: “If the president can browbeat Rosenstein into resigning—or even plausibly misrepresent the firing as a resignation—Trump gains the power to bypass the Senate confirmation process under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act. He can replace Rosenstein with any serving official previously confirmed by the Senate to any other job.”

In the summer of 2017, when Trump ordered the firing of Robert Mueller, and Don McGahn refused, some predicted that Trump would next try to fire Rod Rosenstein, who also indicated that he did not intend to fire Mueller. This, some said, would remove the block (Rosenstein) to ending the Russia investigation.

If Donald Trump’s current chance to get rid of Rod Rosenstein plays out, Trump would be able to control who steps in at the Justice Department to run the Mueller probe. That person would have to be confirmed by the Senate, but with a Republican-dominated Senate, most of which either strongly backs Trump or has been largely sluggish, it’s likely the Trump appointee would be confirmed. That person would then direct Robert Mueller, and could effectively put an end to the investigation into Russia’s influence on the 2016 presidential election. Thursday may not only be a big day for Rod Rosenstein, it could be a fateful day for our country.

Napolitano on potential fallout if Trump fires Rosenstein | Fox News [2018-09-24]

Rod Rosenstein speaks with Trump about recent news stories, will meet Thursday | CBS News [2018-09-24]

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Trump Says His New Tariffs Will Have America Raking in the Money

Donald Trump is patting himself on the back because of the wealth he thinks his tariffs on China are bringing the U.S. Beginning on Monday, September 24, the Trump administration will impose tariffs on $200 billion worth of consumer products from China. Unlike the previous Trump tariffs on aluminum and steel, Trump’s latest round of tariffs will directly impact everyday products that Americans buy, such as furniture, lamps, and car parts.

Trump stated earlier this week at the White House that “China is now paying us billions of dollars in tariffs.” He went on to say that the Treasury Department was collecting “tremendous amounts of money, which is great for our country.”

In reality, write David J. Lynch and Damian Paletta of The Washington Post, “Tariffs are taxes that are paid by Americans who import goods from abroad. Through the end of August, the administration had collected nearly $22 billion in revenue because of its new tariffs, according to the nonpartisan Tax Foundation.”

American importers will begin paying an extra 10 percent tariff for items that are impacted. By the end of 2018, that tariff will increase to 25 percent.

Even if Trump’s tariffs are not exactly bringing in huge piles of wealth to the U.S., at least Americans will hardly notice any price increases in consumer goods, or so says one mega-wealthy Trump official. Wilbur Ross, U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary, says that Americans won’t feel the price increases because they’ll be spread across so many products. Or at least the increases will be miniscule (Miniscule probably means something slightly different to Ross, who, in 2016, according to ThinkProgress, was worth $2.9 billion).

Even if Americans do end up suffering a little from price increases, though, what’s a little pain, in the grand scheme? Donald Trump thinks that Americans, in their great loyalty to Trump, are so eager to place sanctions on China that they’ll be happy to endure a little hardship by paying more for things.

On September 18, Trump tweeted, “China has openly stated that they are actively trying to impact and change our election by attacking our farmers, ranchers and industrial workers because of their loyalty to me. What China does not understand is that these people are great patriots and fully understand that…..”

Not all right-wingers, however, support the idea that Trump’s tariffs will benefit Americans. Some project that for those who benefited from earlier tax cuts, the tariffs will cancel out those gains. In addition, current American wages are not keeping up with the rate of inflation. With additional costs resulting from Trump’s tariffs, Americans’ buying power will decrease even more.

Wilbur Ross makes case that consumers won’t notice price increases | CNBC [2018-09-18]

Will American consumers pay the price for Trump’s tariffs? | Fox Business [2018-09-18]

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