The US Senate Judiciary Committee wants to investigate claims that the US Department of Justice seriously debated the possibility of prematurely dismissing President Donald Trump in 2017.
Plante Rosenstein „coup attempt“?
The chairman of the committee, Republican Lindsey Graham, told CBS on Sunday (local time) that there were allegations that Vice Minister of Justice Rod Rosenstein was planning a sort of administrative coup attempt at that time by applying the 25th Amendment to the US Constitution. Graham emphasized that Rosenstein rejected the allegations. Therefore, he wanted to start a hearing in the Senate to find out what really happened.
The 25th Amendment to the US Constitution provides that the Vice-President and a majority of ministers may initiate an early dismissal of the incumbent President if they believe that he is unable to exercise the rights and duties of his office. The procedure differs from impeachment that the US Congress can use to prosecute an incumbent president for treachery, bribery or other serious crimes and offenses.
Already last September there had been media reports, according to which Rosenstein in 2017 – in the wake of the expulsion of the then FBI director James Comey – has proposed to secretly listen to Trump and initiate a process for premature dismissal of the President. Rosenstein had rejected that.
Statements by ex-FBI vice cause a stir
Now, statements from then-deputy FBI director Andrew McCabe, who also said Rosenstein had been so alarmed at Comery’s expulsion, that he had internally discussed recruiting cabinet members to apply the 25th amendment to the US Constitution. Rosenstein had also proposed to secretly record Trump at internal meetings in the White House. „He did not joke,“ McCabe said in an interview with CBS, which aired on Sunday. Excerpts from it had already become public on Thursday.
Trump responded on Monday again via Twitter on the statements. He covered McCabe with obscenity as before and wrote that McCabe and Rosenstein had apparently planned a „very illegal action“ and had been spotted. There is a lot of need for education.
