John Kelly Does NOT Have the Authority to Fire Rosenstein.

[MineralMan]

He's not on the White House staff. Kelly could tell him that Trump is firing him, hoping for a resignation. He could hand an official letter from Trump firing him. But he cannot, himself, fire him.

So, at this point, we do not know what has happened or will happen.

[Ninga]

1. Unless there is a letter, signed by the 2nd grader. Or it could be that Kelly askes

him to resign...Rosenstein says nah...Kelly says ok with me if you don't.

[trof]

2. That's what I thought. Either Trump or Sessions has to do it, right?

[MineralMan]

4. So it would seem to me, anyhow.

Kelly is in charge of White House staff, not DOJ appointees. Different thing.

[marylandblue]

13. Sessions has to do it

Trump can only fire Sessions.

[trof]

27. Could Two-Scoops order Sessions to fire Rosenstein?

[marylandblue]

30. Yes. If he refuses, trump can fire Sessions.

Then Rosenstein becomes Acting AG, and then Trump can fire Rosenstein. Just like the Saturday Night Massacre.

[trof]

38. Thanks.

Yeah, I remember the Sat. Nite Massacre all too well.

[irresistable]

3. I'm guessing letter.

[MineralMan]

7. That could well be. It's certainly possible.

Trump doesn't fire people in person.

[irresistable]

14. I am now visualizing the feeling of relief I'll feel when Agent Orange flies off in a helicopter.

[MineralMan]

19. Maybe someone will poke a hole in his massive belly, and

he'll fly off like a balloon someone has released. Whizzzzz....

[irresistable]

33. Unfortunately, he isn't full of air, he's full of something else, HAZMAT precautions should be taken

[lastlib]

34. Or conference call w/ tRumpf? Li'l Donny is in NYC.

firing could be done verbally, followed by paperwork.

[GoCubsGo]

5. Yep. I think this is just a stunt to distract us from the Kavanaugh fiasco.

More women are coming out of the woodwork. I hear they're up to four now.

[Trust Buster]

8. Stop saying that. Today's news could determine the future of our democracy. This is not a stunt.

[FSogol]

12. You think Trumpy and the GOP are above pulling stunts to further their goals?

[Trust Buster]

18. Destroying the co-equal branches of government dynamic is not a stunt. You are taking today's

News much too lightly IMO.

[GoCubsGo]

20. Especially when that kind of bullshit is there M.O.?

[GoCubsGo]

15. It's a stunt.

It's more of Trump's bullshit games, where he stirs up shit and nothing becomes of it.

[Trust Buster]

22. Firing Rosenstein and ending the Mueller investigation will have long term consequences to our

Country.

[GoCubsGo]

25. Has he been fired?

I'm seeing multiple posts that are saying that he will not be.

[Trust Buster]

37. The media is all over the place. All the more reason calling this a stunt is premature at best.

[stonecutter357]

28. it's a stunt !

[Trust Buster]

39. Yeah, we have been railing on DU for months and months against don the Con firing mueller for

The hell of it.

[MineralMan]

10. It's likely there will be more, too.

Such things seem to snowball, as people gain the courage of numbers.

Guys like Kavanaugh are not one-timers. If he did it to one, he did it to others. Let's hope there's a blizzard of them about to blow the whistle on that asshole.

[BumRushDaShow]

6. Thank you.

Either he gets handed a letter or some kind of conference call gets set up from NYC to D.C.

[RockRaven]

9. If Kelly doesn't have the correctly written and signed documents, Rosenstein should say nothing

and just go back to work. It won't change the eventual outcome, but there is no reason to make it easy on Trump et al by pointing out their errors.

[exboyfil]

21. Great idea

Make sure the process is followed to the letter. Even a political appointee has certain rights I would think. At a minimum it should be a termination letter signed by Trump or Sessions. In the case of Trump it should specify why he is bypassing Sessions.

[bigtree]

11. can he do it over the phone?

Link to tweet

(I'm leaning against there being a resignation or firing at this time)

Rosenstein at WH is Sessions resignation/firing redux? Rosenstein may keep his job.
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100211173210

[MineralMan]

16. I don't know. Firings at that level need to be in writing,

I'm sure. However, threats of immediate dismissal do not. Often the hope is that the person resigns, which simplifies the other issues that would arise.

I don't know what has happened. We'll find out soon enough, I suppose.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

23. Didn't ***** fire someone via Twitter last year? I've already forgotten. NT

[MineralMan]

24. Twitter is writing.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

26. Electron writing. I think of "in writing" as requiring dead trees and ink. Or toner.

ETA: "Trees," not "tress." I can't type for anything this morning. Or use capital letters.

[MineralMan]

29. Such a firing would be backed up on paper, I'm sure.

If Rosenstein was fired, Trump signed something and Kelly handed it to him. I'm almost certain that Kelly does not have the authority to fire him. Chief of Staff does not come with that authority over Justice Department senior staff.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

32. "I'm almost certain that Kelly does not have the authority to fire him."

I concur.

[Bfd]

17. Sat Night Massacre. btw, Rosenstein has said he will not resign. He will have to be fired.

Sat Night Massacre

If Kavanaugh is pushed thru to the SCourt, as Grassley & McConnell demand, & Trump fires Rosenstein as a way to then fire Mueller, the result will be devastating for America.

Our protections will be compromised to the point of brutal.
Kavanaugh is KEY to absolving Trump & the coup from all dirty deeds.

Critical mass..

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

31. Trump fired Comey by having his goon Keith Schiller deliver a letter

to Comey's office in D.C. while Comey was delivering a speech in California. Comey didn't even know he'd been fired until he saw the news on TV.

[Hoyt]

35. Agree, we don't know what will happen. I do think Kelly could fire Rosenstein with trump's approval.

That's easy enough to work around for a WH that doesn't follow protocol or law.

[MineralMan]

36. I don't think so. I think he'd have to hand him a letter over

Trump's signature. Now, that could happen, of course, but I think we'd know that by now.

I think the press jumped the gun on this.

[FakeNoose]

40. We already know that Cheeto is too chicken-shit to fire him face-to-face

.. so of course he's in New York and he's telling Kelly to handle it. But like you say, it's beyond Kelly's authority.
Mueller and Rosenstein have already discussed this scenario, I'm sure of it!

[GeorgeGist]

41. In any event, I suspect Rosenstein has educated Kelly ...

on the consequences of Trump firing him or Mueller.

[Gothmog]

42. Kelly does not have the authority to fire Rosenstein