WASHINGTON—You knew that El Caudillo Del Mar-A-Lago, gutless wonder that he is, would arrange to be out of town when this happened. I just looked out a window of the Capitol and, glorioski, there was All Hell, running loose in the rain.

As of 11:30 Monday morning, it appeared that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had been summoned to the White House for the purposes of being told that he wasn't the deputy attorney general any more, and by someone who is probably not the president*. Whether Rosenstein resigned or was fired makes a monumental difference in what happens going forward.

For example, if Rosenstein makes them fire him—which is what Pete Williams of NBC News said was going to happen—then the president* cannot use the Vacancy Act to replace him with someone that the Senate already has confirmed. (Deputy Attorney General Ben Carson?) That obviously changes all the calculations when you consider that Rosenstein had been tasked with overseeing the Mueller investigation, which now stands in more peril than it ever has before.

(Here's a fine primer on the Vacancies Act from Steve Vladeck, which he wrote back in May when it looked like the president* was going to try and force everybody to resign.)



So, if Kelly does the president*'s bidding, they're going to have to get the Senate to confirm whoever's next, and won't that be a bowl of buttercups, since that person clearly will be installed to shut down Mueller's probe? In addition, as to the politics, if tomorrow's headlines read, "President* Fires Rosenstein," the Watergate flashbacks go into living color, Hi-Def, and Panavision.

The Washington Post Getty Images

(My love for chaos drives me to imagine another scenario: Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III looks at Monday's events and decides that This Outrage Against the Rule of Law cannot stand, and, since he's got to be fed up with the president* anyway, then he quits On Principle, leaving the president* to put up another attorney general before, perhaps, a Democratic Senate.)

Most folks in the Congress were still in Kavanaugh hibernation when the story broke, but there certainly will be comments a'plenty when they finally emerge, blinking, into the downpours, both literal and metaphorical. We all picked a really bad week to stop doing crystal meth. More, you can guaran-damn-tee, to follow. Also, nice work, New York Times. Judy Miller would be proud.

Update (2:12 p.m.): It gets stranger. From NPR:

Ultimately, he was not removed but the White House did say after his meeting that Rosenstein would return on Thursday for another meeting then with President Trump, who is in New York City on Monday. Trump and Rosenstein "had an extended conversation to discuss the recent news stories," said White House press secretary Sarah Sanders, and Rosenstein is scheduled to return for another conversation in person with the president.

Thursday? Why does Thursday ring a bell? Oh, right. So, is the Rosenstein meeting meant to distract attention from the Ford testimony, or is Camp Runamuck hoping that the Ford testimony will cover Rosenstein's eventual dismissal? This White House is a house of mirrors. Figuratively, of course. If it were an actual house of mirrors, the president* would never leave.

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Charles P. Pierce Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976.

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