PLAYED?

Rosenstein Threatened to Resign After Comey’s Firing

After being portrayed as driving force behind Comey ouster.

Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein threatened to resign after the White House portrayed him as the driving force behind FBI Director James Comey’s dismissal on Tuesday, The Washington Post reports. Citing a source close to the White House, the report said Rosenstein was not happy with President Trump claiming he was only acting on the recommendation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Rosenstein. Sources cited in the report painted a very different picture of what was going on behind the scenes, saying Trump summoned the two to the White House and instructed them to provide a reason to fire Comey. The White House has repeatedly said the decision came from Comey’s superiors, not the president. The dismissal came shortly after Comey reportedly asked for more funds to expand the FBI investigation into Moscow’s ties to the Trump campaign. It also came amid repeated urging by Trump’s administration to focus more on intelligence leaks from the White House than the Russia probe, according to the report. Officials said the administration was growing more and more irritated with Comey for publicly prioritizing the Russia investigation at the time of his dismissal.