Trump allies: Firing Rosenstein could complicate Kavanaugh confirmation

<p>President Donald Trump's allies are urging him not to fire Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.</p>

News 12 Staff

Sep 24, 2018, 2:17 AM

Updated 2,047 days ago

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President Donald Trump's allies are urging him not to fire Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
They say it could complicate the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh, the Supreme Court nominee accused of sexual assault , whose accuser is set to testify this week.
"He shouldn't fire Rosenstein, unless you believe Rosenstein is lying. He said he did not do the things alleged," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, of South Carolina.
On Friday, the New York Times reported that Rosenstein suggested wearing a wire and recruiting cabinet members to invoke the 25th amendment, a move that could remove President Trump from office.

Rosenstein denied the allegations, and others familiar with the 2017 conversations say Rosenstein wasn't being serious about wearing a wire and that his comment was sarcastic.

People familiar with the conversations say President Trump contemplated firing Rosenstein.

He complained about some members of his Justice Department at a rally Friday.

Allies are warning that firing Rosenstein could complicate the 2018 midterms and the confirmation proceedings for the president's embattled supreme court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh.

Christine Blasey Ford accuses Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her in the 1980s, an accusation he strongly denies.

Democratic members of the Judiciary Committee want to hear Ford's side. After late-night talks, she's agreed to testify at a hearing expected this week.

"If one Republican senator should decide that Dr. Ford's allegations, assertions, are true, and that they are serious, it could make a big difference in the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh,” said Sen. Dick Durbin, of Illinois.
Late Sunday night, the New Yorker magazine reported a second woman is accusing Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct. Deborah Ramirez tells the New Yorker that Kavanaugh exposed himself while they were in college.
Kavanaugh has denied the new allegation.


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