Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein Might Have Just Resigned

Deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein

There are mixed signals coming out of Washington this morning as Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has reportedly offered to resign in the wake of a New York Times story last week that alleged he offered to 'secretly record' Donald Trump in the White House in an effort to reveal the chaotic nature of the Trump administration.

Axios' Jonathan Swan tweets that Rosenstein has already 'verbally' resigned.

SCOOP: Rod Rosenstein has verbally resigned to John Kelly. https://t.co/EoJRxueXvI

— Jonathan Swan (@jonathanvswan) September 24, 2018

But The New York Times isn't so sure what the current status is:

It was not immediately clear whether he expected to be fired by Mr. Trump or whether he planned to resign.

Justice Department officials said on Monday morning that he was on his way to the White House expecting to be fired.

But over the weekend, Mr. Rosenstein called a White House official and said he was considering quitting, and a person close to the White House said he was resigning.

It was also unclear whether Mr. Trump would accept a resignation that would likely thrust the administration into further turmoil just weeks before November’s midterm elections.

NBC's Pete Williams says Rosenstein WON'T resign but will force Trump to fire him to get rid of him.

.@PeteWilliamsNBC is reporting on @MSNBC that Rosenstein is heading to the WH. But that he *won't resign,* according to Williams' reporting.

Rosenstein will demand that if the WH wants him gone, they'll have to fire him.

— Mark Murray (@mmurraypolitics) September 24, 2018

Apparently, it makes a big difference in how the position would be filled depending on if Rosenstein is fired or quits.

If a resignation occurs, Trump can choose whoever he likes to fill Rosenstein's job.

But if he is fired, Trump will need to appoint an already-Senate-approved candidate.

The big question many are asking is who would oversee the current investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller with Rosenstein gone. The answer seems to be solicitor general, Noel Francisco.

If Rosenstein is gone, the Mueller probe would be supervised by Noel Francisco, the solicitor general

— Jeremy Herb (@jeremyherb) September 24, 2018

This is all, clearly, a developing story.