President Trump is reportedly mulling firing Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein after federal investigators raided the office of Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen.
CNN reported Tuesday evening that the move is among several that Trump is considering taking after the FBI raided Cohen’s Manhattan office the previous day.
The president is also considering firing Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who recused himself from the Russia probe last year, CNN reported. But officials told the network that Rosenstein — the No. 2 Justice Department official who reportedly personally approved the FBI raid — is his most likely target.
{mosads}
CNN reports that not all members of Trump’s legal team are onboard with the idea.
The raid on Cohen’s offices reportedly marked a tipping point in how Trump responds to the most senior members of his Justice Department.
Various members of Trump’s legal team have reportedly told the president that Rosenstein crossed a line in signing off on the raids.
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and other Democrats have warned Trump against trying to fire Rosenstein, who is overseeing special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Trump campaign associates’ ties to Russia.
Schumer said Tuesday afternoon that Trump firing Rosenstein would spark a “constitutional crisis.”
Rosenstein is not the only one facing the president’s wrath.
The New York Times reported on Tuesday that Trump tried to fire Mueller in December, but was talked out of it by his attorneys.
Trump openly mused about firing Mueller at the White House on Monday after the FBI raid against Cohen.
“We’ll see what happens. … Many people have said ‘you should fire him,’ ” Trump said. “Again, they found nothing and in finding nothing, that’s a big statement.”
Under DOJ regulations, Rosenstein is the only person with the power to fire Mueller, if he has cause to do so. However, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said on Tuesday that the president believes he has the power to dismiss Mueller as well.
“He certainly believes that he has the power to do so,” Sanders said.
– Updated at 7:40 p.m.