The NYT article is about the mental and emotional fitness of the number two man in the Justice Department for that job. Some people are focusing on the consequences of Rosenstein's firing for
the Mueller investigation. In my view the two should be separated and the focus be on Rosenstein's fitness for office and the Times article is clear that Rosenstein is not fit. His thought processes and behavior show manifest disturbance, his behavior is erratic, paranoid and irrational. Rod Rosenstein is not fit for the number two position at Main Justice. Never has been. We take one issue at a time and we must decide the issue de jour and that is that Rosenstein does not belong in this job.
Mr. Rosenstein and...Mr. Sessions...joined Mr. Trump in the Oval Office. The president informed them of his plan to oust Mr. Comey. To the surprise of White House aides who were trying to talk the president out of it, Mr. Rosenstein embraced the idea, even offering to write the memo about the Clinton email inquiry. He turned it in shortly after.
A day later, Mr. Trump announced the firing, and White House aides released Mr. Rosenstein’s memo, labeling it the basis for Mr. Comey’s dismissal.
The president’s reliance on his [Rosenstein's] memo caught Mr. Rosenstein by surprise, and he became angry at Mr. Trump...He grew concerned that his reputation had suffered harm.
Why in the name of rational thinking would that catch Rosey by surprise? It would not. It is not rational thinking. Why would he get angry at Trump? He would not. This is disturbed thought by Rod Rosenstein.
Rosenstein...suggest[ed] that other F.B.I. officials who were interviewing to be the bureau’s director...secretly record Mr. Trump.
That is paranoia, it is panic. That he spoke these disturbed thoughts to others is disturbed behavior.
A determined Mr. Rosenstein began telling associates that he would ultimately be “vindicated”...
"Vindicated" is alone a word that the paranoid use.
White House officials never checked his phone when he arrived for meetings there, Mr. Rosenstein added, implying it would be easy to secretly record Mr. Trump.
example[s] of how erratically [Rosenstein] was behaving while he was taking part in the interviews for a replacement F.B.I. director, considering the appointment of a special counsel and otherwise running the day-to-day operations of the more than 100,000 people at the Justice Department.
The barely concealed implication is that Rosenstein felt overburdened with work and responsibility. He was not up to the job. He should not have been then and should not be now managing 100,000 people. He should resign or be fired. Why did Sessions not step in here?
Some of the details in Mr. McCabe’s memos suggested that Mr. Rosenstein had regrets about the firing of Mr. Comey. During a May 12 meeting with Mr. McCabe, Mr. Rosenstein was upset and emotional, Mr. McCabe wrote, and said that he wished Mr. Comey were still at the F.B.I. so he could bounce ideas off him.
No normal mind three days later would have regrets and wish Comey was still at the F.B.I. when that same mind had offered to and did compose the memo that justified the firing. No emotionally stable person would be upset and emotional.
Mr. Rosenstein also asked F.B.I. officials on May 14, five days after Mr. Comey’s firing, about calling him for advice about a special counsel. The officials responded that such a call was a bad idea because Mr. Comey was no longer in the government...
He is not processing information rationally. That is not a rational thought and again, it is an irrational thought activated into behavior when he gives voice to it to others.
...And they were surprised, believing that the idea contradicted Mr. Rosenstein’s stated reason for backing Mr. Comey’s dismissal — that he had shown bad judgment in the Clinton email inquiry.
I guarantee you that "surprised" was not the sources' term. "Off his rocker," "losing it," yeah. That whole passage is, to me, the worst of the worst.
the Mueller investigation. In my view the two should be separated and the focus be on Rosenstein's fitness for office and the Times article is clear that Rosenstein is not fit. His thought processes and behavior show manifest disturbance, his behavior is erratic, paranoid and irrational. Rod Rosenstein is not fit for the number two position at Main Justice. Never has been. We take one issue at a time and we must decide the issue de jour and that is that Rosenstein does not belong in this job.
Mr. Rosenstein and...Mr. Sessions...joined Mr. Trump in the Oval Office. The president informed them of his plan to oust Mr. Comey. To the surprise of White House aides who were trying to talk the president out of it, Mr. Rosenstein embraced the idea, even offering to write the memo about the Clinton email inquiry. He turned it in shortly after.
A day later, Mr. Trump announced the firing, and White House aides released Mr. Rosenstein’s memo, labeling it the basis for Mr. Comey’s dismissal.
The president’s reliance on his [Rosenstein's] memo caught Mr. Rosenstein by surprise, and he became angry at Mr. Trump...He grew concerned that his reputation had suffered harm.
Why in the name of rational thinking would that catch Rosey by surprise? It would not. It is not rational thinking. Why would he get angry at Trump? He would not. This is disturbed thought by Rod Rosenstein.
Rosenstein...suggest[ed] that other F.B.I. officials who were interviewing to be the bureau’s director...secretly record Mr. Trump.
That is paranoia, it is panic. That he spoke these disturbed thoughts to others is disturbed behavior.
A determined Mr. Rosenstein began telling associates that he would ultimately be “vindicated”...
"Vindicated" is alone a word that the paranoid use.
White House officials never checked his phone when he arrived for meetings there, Mr. Rosenstein added, implying it would be easy to secretly record Mr. Trump.
example[s] of how erratically [Rosenstein] was behaving while he was taking part in the interviews for a replacement F.B.I. director, considering the appointment of a special counsel and otherwise running the day-to-day operations of the more than 100,000 people at the Justice Department.
The barely concealed implication is that Rosenstein felt overburdened with work and responsibility. He was not up to the job. He should not have been then and should not be now managing 100,000 people. He should resign or be fired. Why did Sessions not step in here?
Some of the details in Mr. McCabe’s memos suggested that Mr. Rosenstein had regrets about the firing of Mr. Comey. During a May 12 meeting with Mr. McCabe, Mr. Rosenstein was upset and emotional, Mr. McCabe wrote, and said that he wished Mr. Comey were still at the F.B.I. so he could bounce ideas off him.
No normal mind three days later would have regrets and wish Comey was still at the F.B.I. when that same mind had offered to and did compose the memo that justified the firing. No emotionally stable person would be upset and emotional.
Mr. Rosenstein also asked F.B.I. officials on May 14, five days after Mr. Comey’s firing, about calling him for advice about a special counsel. The officials responded that such a call was a bad idea because Mr. Comey was no longer in the government...
He is not processing information rationally. That is not a rational thought and again, it is an irrational thought activated into behavior when he gives voice to it to others.
...And they were surprised, believing that the idea contradicted Mr. Rosenstein’s stated reason for backing Mr. Comey’s dismissal — that he had shown bad judgment in the Clinton email inquiry.
I guarantee you that "surprised" was not the sources' term. "Off his rocker," "losing it," yeah. That whole passage is, to me, the worst of the worst.
