As Trump attacked Mueller, he offered mea culpa to Rosenstein, source says

[DonViejo]

The president didn't go after Rosenstein the same way he went after others.

By Mike Levine Apr 2, 2019 4:01 AM

Four months ago, shortly after President Donald Trump's Twitter account sent out an image suggesting Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein should be prosecuted and imprisoned for appointing special counsel Robert Mueller, the president took the rare step of telling Rosenstein it was a mistake, according to a former Justice Department official informed of the conversation.

As described by the former official, the mea culpa came in a private phone call, within days of Trump retweeting the meme that showed Rosenstein, Mueller and several Obama-era officials behind bars.

"[W]hen do the trials for treason begin?" the Trump-endorsed image asked.

Link to tweet

But on the private phone call afterward, Trump insisted to Rosenstein that he didn’t notice the veteran prosecutor in the image's background before it was retweeted, according to the former official.

Publicly, Trump stood by the controversial post.

The previously unreported anecdote reflects how — despite unrelenting attacks on Mueller, Mueller's team and others at the Justice Department — Trump often tried to avoid clashes with Rosenstein, the person who appointed Mueller in the first place.

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https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-attacked-mueller-offered-mea-culpa-rosenstein-source/story?id=62096310