Updated at 8:24 p.m.
President Trump is reportedly thinking about firing Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein after the FBI raided the office and home of Trump’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen, according to a new report.
Rosenstein reportedly authorized the raid, which was overseen by the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York. Rosenstein is also overseeing special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe.
Trump is also considering removing Attorney General Jeff Sessions due to the raid. However, officials say it is more likely that it will be Rosenstein who will be fired if Trump takes action, according to CNN.
Sources told CNN that it’s possible the raid could encourage Trump to take more hostile actions toward Mueller too. Trump has repeatedly called Mueller’s investigation a “witch hunt” and reportedly even ordered Mueller to be fired at one point during the summer last year before backing off. Trump then sought to fire Mueller again in December, according to a New York Times report Tuesday.
Some members of Trump’s legal team believe Rosenstein crossed a line in approving the raid, but Democrats have warned that firing Rosenstein would be a poor choice. According to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., the move would initiate a “constitutional crisis.”
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders was tight-lipped about whether Trump was considering firing Sessions, Mueller, or Rosenstein.
“I haven’t had any conversations with him on that,” she told reporters Tuesday. “I can’t speak beyond that.”
Publicly, Trump has fumed about the raid and specifically called out federal investigators.
“This is ridiculous. This is now getting ridiculous,” Trump told reporters on Monday. “I think it’s a disgrace what’s going on. Many people have said you should fire [special counsel Robert Mueller]. Again, they found nothing. And in finding nothing, that’s a big statement.”
According to the Washington Post, Cohen is under investigation for potentially committing bank fraud and violating campaign finance rules.
Additionally, the FBI gathered documents during the raid related to Cohen’s payment of $130,000 in hush money to adult film star Stormy Daniels, who has been embroiled in a legal battle with Trump concerning an alleged extramarital affair. Cohen paid Daniels, who signed a nondisclosure agreement, in exchange for her silence shortly before the 2016 election.
The White House says Trump denies that he had sexual relations with Daniels, and Trump claimed last week he did not know anything about the $130,000 payment.
