Everyone gushes over the Rosenstein topic from yesterday, but no one really sits and talks about this single meeting of Chief of Staff Kelly and Rosenstein himself.
You can imagine them sitting down, and Kelly leading off: "You know Rod....all this chatter about you and this 'wire'....well, it's a problem."
Rosenstein would counter: "Well, yeah....but it's just gossip by those evil New York Times writers."
Kelly: "We thought about it, and we've decided that there needs to be a complete investigation done...like what we did to those FBI guys who were suspended or working in some basement office."
Rosenstein: "Gee, I don't think that's helpful because I'm managing Mueller, and doing all this work that Sessions can't or won't do."
Then Kelly would have just started laughing.
I don't think this is a firing....once you suggest that you might be willing to wear a 'wire' inside of the White House, your clearance is at stake. I think that's the whole point of Kelly having this chat. And if you did this review and found the 'wire' comment has occurred, then Rosenstein can't retain his clearance.
How did Trump's team reach this level of play? I think they sat down and drew up a list of likely NY Times reporters who were connected to Rosenstein....then found found one or two who were outside of that circle. They then agreed to funnel news to that new group, in exchange for them to plant this comment of Rosenstein and the 'wire'. The insider crew? They didn't grasp what was going on, and the outsider crew suddenly had some track to get their stories planted. Presently, I'm guessing the insider and outsider groups are in conflict. The damage has been done.
Rosenstein? Without a clearance, he can't function. And just getting to this decision....you'd have to suspend the guy for 90 days. The number three guy would step in (a GOP guy) and suddenly Session's little game falls apart.
Mueller? I will go out and predict that a meeting occurs between the new boss and Mueller within 10 days after Rosenstein retires (note, I'm not saying he's fired). The new boss will clearly define the Mueller process, and give him roughly two to four weeks to wrap up the Russian collusion business. Everything else? Finished and put into a secure folder. Anyone caught exiting the situation with collected data? Their clearances will be revoked and they could be dragged into court themselves.
Somewhere around the end of October, the Mueller-adventure ends. Sessions? I think he's played out the game as far as he can and will quietly retire in the spring of 2019.
It's interesting how this played out....Trump needed the NY Times to shake the tree, and once done....Rosenstein fell out of the tree. There's no need for a firing....you just revoke the guy's clearance for the threat of wearing a 'wire'. I can even imagine Rosenstein entering the work-area of Kelly yesterday, and some security guy going through his clothing to ensure no wire was being worn....just to send a signal on he would be treated from this point on. It's an insult to get padded down prior to each meeting, but Rosenstein basically begged for the insult.
An odd ending? Yes. If Rosenstein had never made that wire threat....there's no threat to his clearance. Threats by the Democrats to investigate this? Maybe. But there might be another special prosecutor hired to check the FBI conduct, and maybe former Obama staff members on FISA problems. You can imagine that meeting between Senator Schumer and Chief of Staff Kelly.
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