Trump distances himself from Rosenstein by saying Sessions hired him
President Trump on Sunday shifted his focus to Attorney General Jeff Sessions when asked about a report that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein proposed secretly recording the president and recruiting Cabinet officials to invoke the 25th Amendment.
“He was hired by Jeff Sessions,” Trump told Geraldo Rivera in an interview with “The Geraldo Show” on WTAM radio, according to Fox News.
“I was not involved in that process because, you know, they go out and get their own deputies and the people that work in the department,” Trump added. The full interview is scheduled to air on Monday.
{mosads}Trump told Rivera that The New York Times report about Rosenstein was a “very sad story,” and indicated the administration will “make a determination” about what to do next.
The president’s decision to seemingly shift the focus on Sessions marks the latest in a long line of attacks against the attorney general. Trump last week told Hill.TV that it was as if he didn’t have an attorney general, and indicated he nominated the former Alabama senator for the position out of loyalty.
Trump has regularly excoriated Sessions for recusing himself from overseeing the investigation into Russia’s election interference, a probe that Rosenstein is now overseeing as a result.
Trump’s interview with Rivera marks his first extensive public comments since The New York Times reported Friday that Rosenstein suggested wearing a wire during conversations with the president last spring.
Rosenstein denied the report, calling it “inaccurate and factually incorrect.” He added that “there is no basis to invoke the 25th Amendment” based on his dealings with Trump.
Several of Trump’s allies appeared on Sunday talk shows to react to the report, and none of them urged the president to fire Rosenstein based on The New York Times story alone.
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