Rod Rosenstein plays coy with congressional Republicans.
Before Rod Rosenstein began his testimony before the House Judiciary committee on Wednesday, a Justice Department source told me the deputy attorney general would be “calm and very well versed in the law.” Since Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself, Rosenstein has overseen the FBI’s investigation into Russian interference. Rosenstein also wrote the order creating the special counsel’s office headed by former FBI director Robert Mueller, to continue conducting and prosecuting that investigation.
But Rosenstein, a Republican lawyer appointed by a Republican president (Donald Trump) has been among those at the DOJ in the crosshairs of Republicans in Congress who are critical of the Mueller investigation and the FBI’s supposed politicization. As Mueller’s investigation has closed in on figures involved in Trump’s presidential campaign and even in his White House, speculation in Washington has been that the president may view this all as justification for firing Mueller or even shutting down the special counsel entirely. Stuart Taylor, in the current issue of the magazine, contemplates the possibilities. Read more... |
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Alabama Hangover—As I wrote yesterday, Roy Moore’s shocking special election loss to Democrat Doug Jones Tuesday night was a huge embarrassment for President Trump, who went all-in for Moore, despite the credible allegations of sexual misconduct against the candidate. But in his first public remarks about the outcome, Trump remained uncharacteristically stoic, congratulating Jones on his victory and calling for Republicans to put up better candidates in future elections.
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Photo of the Day
Donald Trump speaks to a group of families, Young Republicans, and College Republicans at the White House, while speaking about how planned tax reforms would benefit middle class families. (Chris Kleponis-Pool/Getty Images)
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Tax Reform Watch—With Republicans scurrying to pass their tax reform bill by the end of the year, President Trump on Wednesday extolled the package as a “truly amazing victory for American families” that would create jobs and raise wages nationwide.
In a speech billed as his “closing argument” on tax reform, Trump again offered his central tax pitch: that most Americans would see immediate benefits from such changes as doubling the standard deduction and increasing the child tax credit, as well as longer-term benefits from the economic growth Republicans say the package will foster. Read more... |
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| Presidential Promise of the Day—“I’m here today to tell you that we will never let bad things happen with respect to the economy of our country.” —President Donald Trump, December 13, 2017 |
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Omarosa Manigault, the longtime Trump associate and former Apprentice star whose role in the Trump administration was something of a mystery, is out at the White House, reportedly ousted from her role at the Office of Public Liaison Tuesday night by chief of staff John Kelly.
In a Wednesday morning statement, press secretary Sarah Sanders said that Manigault resigned “to pursue other opportunities” and that her departure would be effective January 20. But White House reporter April Ryan of American Urban Radio Networks told a different story, citing sources who said Kelly had given Manigault her walking papers Tuesday. Read more... |
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| Against Viral Children—That’s not a statement about sick kids but a cri de coeur from Sonny Bunch, writing at the Washington Post, in opposition to the trend of parents putting their children in online videos for the purpose of getting them to “go viral.” Here’s what he means: I’m thinking of the parents who tape their children dealing with the effects of anesthesia (“Is this real life?”), or the ones instructed by Jimmy Kimmel to film their children breaking down into tears because they think their folks have eaten all their Halloween candy, or the parents who tape reaction videos after telling their children that their favorite athlete has been shipped out of town.
I’m thinking of a poor little boy in Tennessee crying about being bullied, a poor little boy whose tears went viral, a poor little boy to whom celebrities reached out and offered support and love and trips to movie premieres, a poor little boy whose family the howling mobs on Twitter quickly tried to tear down.
A poor little boy who will forever be known to bullies as the kid who cries when you’re mean to him. |
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