Political Focus: Trump impeachment process nearly began late last year, according to interviews

Rod J. Rosenstein is not a name you would be familiar with if you are an average follower of politics. The deputy attorney general has been in the shadow of James Comey and Robert Mueller for most of his career in the White House, in charge of overseeing the Russia probe and writing a memo critical of Comey’s investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails. He’s been around, but to not know his role or importance at this point in our nation’s political whirlwind is reasonable.

That political safety dissolved for Rosenstein after the “New York Times” released a story detailing how he had considered beginning impeachment processes directly after President Donald Trump’s firing of James Comey, the former FBI director. Two weeks after being hired, Rosenstein began discussing with cabinet members the option of invoking the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office, citing him as being unfit for the role and apparently claiming he would be willing to wear a wire to gather information on the president.

These rumblings of impeachment coming to the forefront have made Rosenstein a large target for the president and his allies, and talks of Rosenstein’s impeachment from July are entering the discussion again. Articles of impeachment have already been filed against Rosenstein, and this news is probably not going to win him any friends in the White House. In fact, the “New York Times’” report was apparently met with unusual welcome from Trump supporters, as Fox News hosts and Republican Congress members took to the media to say this is just another reason to impeach the deputy attorney general.

The day the “New York Times” story was released, Fox News host Laura Ingraham published a series of tweets, which have since been deleted, that read, “Rod Rosenstein must be fired today” and “He needs to go. Today.” Jeanine Pirro, another Fox News host, was a bit more blunt with her suggestions, also taking to Twitter to say, “Rod [R]osenstein sh[ou]ld have been fired long ago for being part of the ‘resistance’ and not providing documents to congress in order to save his corrupt pals. NOW HE MUST BE FIRED.” Their accusations should be considered with a grain of salt, considering Fox News has the credibility of a very well run propaganda machine.

At the end of the day, this flurry of accusations is not going to get anywhere in regard to Trump’s impeachment. If you want to look anywhere for hope that he gets removed from his office, the best place to keep your attention is on the Mueller investigation.

So, the takeaway here is twofold—the Trump administration is still on the back foot and should be very afraid of the Mueller investigation gaining steam, and Fox News anchors tweeting should not be the primary source of people’s information.

If you needed more proof that mainstream conservative news sources like Fox News are unreliable, the feverish attack on a member of the White House staff for perhaps being a member of the so-called “resistance” should be proof enough.