Trump: Rosenstein, McCabe Pursued ‘Illegal and Treasonous’ Plot Against Me
Former FBI director's revelations on secretly recording the president resurfaces
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President Donald Trump accused former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein of an “illegal and treasonous” plot against him following McCabe's revelations on secretly recording the president.
McCabe has brought the subject to the forefront once again in interviews for his forthcoming book, telling CBS News' "60 Minutes" that Rosenstein had meetings on recording Trump following the firing of former FBI director James Comey.
Trump took to Twitter following McCabe's comments calling him a liar and calling out other top DOJ and FBI officials, like ousted Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
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“He and Rod Rosenstein, who was hired by Jeff Sessions (another beauty), look like they were planning a very illegal act, and got caught … There is a lot of explaining to do to the millions of people who had just elected a president who they really like and who has done a great job for them with the Military, Vets, Economy and so much more. This was the illegal and treasonous ‘insurance policy’ in full action!” he tweeted.
“Insurance policy” is a term used to reference texts between FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, which is suspected of referring to aspects of the Russia collusion probe.
But McCabe claimed he "never actually considered taking [Rosenstein] up on the offer."
The former FBI director claimed he did discuss the matter with the FBI's then-general counsel, James A. Baker who said t McCabe and Page came to Baker told him details of the meeting with Rosenstein.
Baker informed congressional investigators he took McCabes and Page's accounts "seriously."
Wow, so many lies by now disgraced acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe. He was fired for lying, and now his story gets even more deranged. He and Rod Rosenstein, who was hired by Jeff Sessions (another beauty), look like they were planning a very illegal act, and got caught.....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 18, 2019
....There is a lot of explaining to do to the millions of people who had just elected a president who they really like and who has done a great job for them with the Military, Vets, Economy and so much more. This was the illegal and treasonous “insurance policy” in full action!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 18, 2019
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McCabe told CBS News that "I think the general counsel had a heart attack" when he told him of Rosenstein's plan.
"And when he got up off the floor, he said, 'I, I, that's a bridge too far. We're not there yet,'" McCabe added.
Days later, Rosenstein appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller as a special counsel to oversee the bureau's investigation into allegations of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian officials.
According to a Fox News report: Rosenstein frequently has denied he "pursued or authorized recording the president."
He also has denied McCabe's opinion that the deputy attorney general had broached the idea of invoking the Constitution's 25th Amendment, which allows Cabinet members to seek the elimination of a president if they conclude that he or she is mentally unfit.
The Justice Department echoed both denials in a statement released last week, saying Rosenstein "was not in a position to consider invoking the 25th Amendment."
McCabe said in the interview, "Rod raised the [25th Amendment] issue and discussed it with me in the context of thinking about how many other Cabinet officials might support such an effort.”
He continued that he believed Rosenstein was "counting votes or possible votes" to remove Trump from office.
Fox News reported Sunday that Baker, in his testimony to Congress, provided even more details about the alleged 25th Amendment discussions – saying two Cabinet officials were “ready to support” such an effort.
“I was being told by some combination of Andy McCabe and Lisa Page, that, in a conversation with the Deputy Attorney General, he had stated that he -- this was what was related to me -- that he had at least two members of the president’s Cabinet who were ready to support, I guess you would call it, an action under the 25th Amendment,” Baker testified.
