It's official: Rosenstein's plan to entrap president was real

Rod Rosenstein testifies before House Judiciary Committee in December 2017 (Video screenshot)

Former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has insisted he was joking when he offered to wear a wire to record his conversations with President Trump.

He made the remark as Department of Justice officials discussed the possibility of invoking the 25th Amendment to remove the president.

Now, Washington watchdog Judicial Watch has obtained a copy of a two-page memo by then-acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe that indicates Rosenstein's remark was no joke.

In the May 16, 2017, memo, McCabe said Rosenstein proposed wearing a wire into the Oval Office "to collect additional evidence on the president's true intentions." Rosenstein, according to the memo, said he thought it was possible because "he was not searched when he entered the White House."

The document came to light as a result of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by Judicial Watch.

"This incredible memo details the conflicted and conniving coup effort against President Trump," said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.

"It is astonishing and shocking McCabe thought he could have the FBI conduct a 'counterintelligence' operation on the president and Rosenstein thought it would be appropriate to wear a wire to secretly record President Trump in the Oval Office. That the DOJ and FBI sat on this smoking gun for a year shows the need for urgent housecleaning at those agencies."

Judicial Watch said the memo, which is redacted in key sections, purports to serve as a "contemporaneous recollection" of the May 16, 2017, meeting.

The meeting meeting in Rosenstein's Justice Department office included Deputy Assistant AG for Intelligence Tashina Gauhar and Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Jim Crowell.

McCabe wrote that he began the meeting by telling Rosenstein that he "approved the opening of an investigation of President Donald Trump ... to investigate allegations of possible collusion between the president and the Russian government, possible obstruction of justice related to the firing of FBI Director James Comey, and possible conspiracy to obstruct justice."

In justifying his investigation, McCabe referred to the memos former FBI Director James Comey secretly wrote on meetings he had with President Trump.

McCabe wrote in the memo that he "informed [Rosenstein] that as a result of his role in the matter, I thought he would be a witness to the case."

Judicial Watch said Rosenstein then talked about his discussions with the president and others.

McCabe wrote:

As our conversation continued the DAG proposed that he could potentially wear a recording device into the Oval Office to collect additional evidence on the president's true intentions. He said he thought this might be possible because he was not searched when he entered the White House. I told him that I would discuss the opportunity with my investigative team and get back to him.

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We discussed the issue of appointing a Special Counsel to oversee the FBI’s Russia investigation. The DAG said he has two candidates ready, one of whom could start immediately.

McCabe said Rosenstein told him he had a "credibility problem" because a Rosenstein staffer had photos of McCabe wearing his wife's campaign T-shirt despite his "assurance" he had no role in her campaign.

While the FBI was investigating Hillary Clinton over her email scandal, Hillary Clinton friends were giving McCabe's wife hundreds of thousands of dollars in political donations.

Judicial Watch previously obtained 14 pages of records showing how Justice officials orchestrated a response to a Sept. 21, 2018, New York Times report regarding discussions within the FBI and Justice Department about removing the president by invoking the 25th Amendment.

The story said Rosenstein offered to wear a wire to record his conversations with Trump and provide evidence the president should be removed.

The documents show Rosenstein sought to ensure that the media would have "difficulty" finding anyone in the DOJ to comment.

The DOJ officials, according to the documents, engaged in a concerted effort to frame the reporting as "inaccurate" and "factually incorrect."

Significantly, the officials sought to characterize Rosenstein's reported offer of wearing a wire to record Trump as merely "sarcastic."

Fitton said the documents "essentially confirm the coup discussions about wearing a wire when speaking with President Trump and plans to remove him under the 25th Amendment."

Last October, former FBI General Counsel James A. Baker provided testimony to congressional investigators that conflicted with Rosenstein's claim that he made the wire offer in jest.

Baker said in a closed-door deposition that then-FBI Acting Director Andrew McCabe and FBI lawyer Lisa Page disclosed to him details of the meeting, recounting that the 25th Amendment was invoked and Rosenstein offered to wear a wire to record Trump.

Baker said he took McCabe's and Page's account "seriously," according to sources with knowledge of the depositions.