FBI lawyers DID look into having Rod Rosenstein wear a wire to boost case that president was unfit for office even though deputy attorney general claimed idea was NOT serious
- McCabe told CBS’s Scott Pelley the idea came up more than once
- It was discussed seriously – not as a joke
- The officials discussed 25th Amendment provision for removal of a president
- Claims Rosenstein suggested to two top aides might back the move
- President Trump called McCabe ‘disgraced’
- The New York Times reported last year Rosenstein suggested recording Trump
Former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe says top law enforcement officials discussed having Rod Rosenstein wear a wire during the days after President Trump fired FBI Director James Comey.
McCabe’s claim, which he shared with ’60 Minutes’ on CBS, buttresses reporting last September that Justice Department deputy director Rod Rosenstein proposed the idea of secretly recording Trump in the spring of 2017.
He said the idea was seriously discussed and vetted.
‘McCabe … says no, it came up more than once and it was so serious that he took it to the lawyers at the FBI to discuss it,’ CBS anchor Scott Pelley said, describing his interview with McCabe.
Justice Department officials said at the time the remark was a joke and meant sarcastically.
Former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe described a 2017 discussion of having Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein wear a wire around Trump was taken seriously
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein met with top Justice and FBI officials following Trump’s firing of FBI Director James Comey
‘Well, what do you want me to do, Andy, wear a wire?,’ is how a senior Justice officials described the remark to NBC days after the report. That report also indicated McCabe took the remark seriously at the time.
Rosenstein denied the story when the New York Times reported it in September, and felt compelled to state: ‘But let me be clear about this: Based on my personal dealings with the president, there is no basis to invoke the 25th Amendment’ – which deals with succession and removal of a president from office.
He said it was ‘not perceived to be a joke’ during the tense time-period following Trump’s firing of Comey in May 2017.
McCabe also says he ordered the start of an obstruction of justice probe into Trump out of fear that if he got fired, investigative work might disappear.
McCabe also spoke of conversations about invoking the 25th Amendment, which deals with a president who cannot perform the duties of the office
Andrew McCabe, the former deputy director of the FBI, recounted a discussions of removing Donald Trump from office in a television interview that will air Sunday
‘I was very concerned that I was able to put the Russia case on absolutely solid ground, in an indelible fashion,’ McCabe said.
Of discussion of invoking the 25th amendment, which allows for removal of a cabinet with a vote of the vice president and a majority of his cabinet, or of a special panel that can be created, he said: ‘They were counting noses,’ according to Pelley.
The amendment sets up a process that also requires a two-thirds vote in both houses of Congress.
‘The highest levels of American law enforcement were trying to figure out what to do with the president,’ said Pelley.
Trump fired back at McCabe on Twitter on Thursday morning during a block of time in which he usually does have anything on his public or private work schedule
Trump invoked McCabe’s wife Jill, who ran for office as a Democrat in Virginia and lost. She had the financial backing of an organization that is close to Hillary Clinton
‘Not asking cabinet members whether they would vote for or against removing the president. But they were speculating, this person would be with us. That person would not be, and they were counting noses in that effort,’ he added.
Said Pelley: ‘There were meetings at the Justice Department at which it was discussed whether the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet could be brought together to remove the president of the United States under the 25th Amendment,’ Pelley said Thursday. ‘And the highest levels of American law enforcement were trying to figure out what to do with the president.’
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders unloaded on McCabe in a statement.
‘Andrew McCabe was fired in total disgrace from the FBI because he lied to investigators on multiple occasions, including under oath,’ she said. ‘His selfish and destructive agenda drove him to open a completely baseless investigation into the President. His actions were so shameful that he was referred to federal prosecutors. Andrew McCabe has no credibility and is an embarrassment to the men and women of the FBI and our great country.’