President Donald Trump demanded that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, a man he reportedly is trying to fire, promise to be loyal to him during his presidency.
The incident occurred during a December meeting between the president and Rosenstein, according to CNN. At the meeting, the president asked Rosenstein to inform him about the state of the investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller into alleged collusion between members of Trump's campaign and the Russian government, as well as whether Rosenstein was "on my team." Rosenstein avoided answering questions about Mueller's probe but tried to ameliorate the president's loyalty concerns by responding, "Of course, we're all on your team, Mr. President."
This report would seem to partially contradict what Rosenstein later told a congressional committee. At that time, in response to a question about whether he had ever been asked to pledge his loyalty to Trump, Rosenstein responded, "Nobody has asked me to take a loyalty pledge, other than the oath of office."
The Rosenstein revelation is part of a worrying trend that, at best, could constitute an implicit threat as part of a larger obstruction of justice trend — and at worst, demand that law enforcement authorities value him over the rule of law. In January, it came out that he had asked former Deputy Director of the FBI Andrew McCabe whom he had voted for. Last year he had a public falling out with Attorney General Jeff Sessions after being outraged that the Justice Department head recused himself from the Trump-Russia investigation — and didn't protect the president from the Russia probe. Trump also reportedly demanded the loyalty of former FBI Director James Comey before ultimately firing him.
All the while, Robert Mueller has been looking into Trump's dealings, and it seems more and more clear that obstruction of justice is one of the avenues, if not the main avenue, against the president. A considerable amount of attention is being paid to the drafting of a letter to the media that was sent out by the Trump team last summer after it was reported that members of Trump's campaign had met with a Kremlin-connected lawyer during the 2016 presidential election, according to The New York Times. While the focus would not be on whether Trump lied to the media — not a crime, and not of concern — it could very well be the old Watergate-era question: What did the president know, and when did he know it?
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