The Department of Justice held meetings on whether President Donald Trump should be removed from office with the 25th Amendment after the firing of former FBI Director James Comey, former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe writes in a new book.
“There were meetings at the Justice Department at which it was discussed whether the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet could be brought together to remove the president of the United States under the 25th Amendment,” CBS News’ Scott Pelley said Thursday in a preview of his forthcoming interview with McCabe.
.@ScottPelley on what McCabe told @60Minutes: “There were meetings at the Justice Department at which it was discussed whether the vice president and a majority of the cabinet could be brought together to remove the president of the United States under the 25th Amendment.” pic.twitter.com/iVAyrEV4MF
— Norah O’Donnell???????? (@NorahODonnell) February 14, 2019
Pelley noted that these meetings were part of an extraordinary 8-day period after Comey’s firing in which Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein also suggested to senior FBI officials that he should wear a secret recording device in his meetings with Trump.
Rosenstein’s discussion of wearing a wire and talk of the 25th Amendment was first reported by The New York Times in September 2018. (RELATED: Rosenstein Discussed Wearing A Wire In Meetings With Trump)
U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein puts his hand over his heart during the national anthem at the 66th annual Attorney General’s Awards Ceremony at the Daughters of the American Revolution Constitution Hall October 24, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
The 25th Amendment allows for the removal of the president of the United States if a majority of his Senate-confirmed cabinet believe he is no longer capable of discharging his duties while in office. Rosenstein reportedly speculated that he could convince at least two cabinet officials to sign on to a plan to oust Trump from office.
The deputy attorney general played a key role in authoring a memo justifying Comey’s firing, which faulted the former FBI director for his conduct during the investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s misuse of classified emails.
Rosenstein disputed TheNYT account of the meeting in September saying, “I will not further comment on a story based on anonymous sources who are obviously biased against the department and are advancing their own personal agenda.”
“But let me be clear about this,” he continued. “Based on my personal dealings with the president, there is no basis to invoke the 25th Amendment.”