Andrew McCarthy of National Review Online assesses top Justice Department official Rod Rosenstein’s actions in opposition to President Trump.
For years, Rosenstein had carefully tended to his reputation as an apolitical lawman, beloved of both parties. At a time when Trump nominees for top executive offices were extraordinarily difficult to move through the Senate with Republicans holding a razor thin 51–49 majority, Rosenstein breezed to confirmation as deputy attorney general by the margin of 94 to 6, with overwhelming #Resistance support.
Yet, on Comey’s firing, he badly misdiagnosed the Democrats. Like the president and some B-Team White House advisers, Rosenstein figured that his memo — so solicitous of Mrs. Clinton, so respectful of Democratic as well as Republican rebukes of Comey — would be applauded by Democrats, who blamed the former director for Clinton’s defeat. It had apparently escaped Rosenstein’s notice that Democrats had moved on from Hillary. Anti-Trump derangement was now the order of the day. …
… The apoplectic Democratic reaction sent Rod a-reeling, anguished by such taunts as this one by Senator Christopher Murphy of Connecticut: “You wrote a memo you knew would be used to perpetuate a lie. You own this debacle.” …
… The Times tells us that Rosenstein “grew concerned that his reputation had suffered harm,” and he “became angry at Mr. Trump.” Sensing which way the wind was blowing, desperate to get back in the Democrats’ good graces, the deputy AG started singing from the #Resistance hymnal: Trump is unfit. Of course, Trump was neither more nor less unfit than he’d been at any other time. Rosenstein’s sudden concern about the president’s suitability was about Rosenstein, not Trump. The deputy AG now felt the need to show his former admirers, as emphatically as circumstances would allow, that he was on the right side of this question.
