Anyone who remembers the Watergate scandal leading to the resignation of President Nixon will see the parallels to the Trump administration's current plight. All the President's men could not prevent the investigative roads leading to Nixon as the culprit behind the break-in at the DNC offices. Nixon, like Trump, issued the same denials with his famous tagline, "I am not a crook".
Fast forward to the Trump administration. Political deja vu has reared its head again, only this time Watergate seems like small potatoes in comparison to the allegations of collusion with Russia to throw the presidential election, election finance violations, and of course, the bevy of payouts to women he supposedly schtupped. Trump's repetitive mantra to deflect his guilt is, "This is a WITCH HUNT." Jeff Sessions wisely played hot potato political chess by recusing himself from the Russia debacle, rousing constant vitriol from Mr. Trump.
As the next in line hatchet man, Rod Rosenstein did not engender himself to my liberal leanings by supporting the firing of James Comey. Even though I thought Comey was politically motivated for releasing the Clinton emails prior to the election, I did not think he deserved to be fired for his investigation into the Russian meddling of our presidential election. My fear was that our justice system was being massaged to bend to Trump's consuming need for power without accountability.
But then came Rosenstein's appointment of special prosecutor Robert Mueller. I thought to myself, 'this man has some cojones' for enduring the wrath of Trump by appointing Mueller, whose unimpeachable reputation as a formidable attorney is Trump's worst nightmare come true. Watching Trump squirm as his many cronies cooperate with Mueller's investigation is akin to watching the fall of Nixon. The saying goes, "Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it." Mr. Rosenstein may be one of the few Trump-appointed minions who is willing to follow the letter of the law instead of what is politically expedient.
The raid on Michael Cohen's office is what really elevated Mr. Rosenstein's character in my eyes. He knew he signed his political death warrant by authorizing the seizure of evidence from Trump's attorney. By adhering to his oath of office, Mr. Rosenstein made an excruciating decision to execute his sworn duties over his political relationships. As the clock counts down, Mr. Rosenstein knows he is in cross hairs of King Trump and has limited time left.
This is why I wrote a letter of support to Mr. Rosenstein. Few people have the courage to stand up to a president who consistently lies, engages in payola for his sexual indiscretions, and whose operatives have colluded in the meddling of a presidential election. Regardless of his political beliefs as a Republican, I am relieved to know that Mr. Rosenstein is upholding the checks and balances in our government. Without his fortitude, our cherished rule of law government will become a Trump dictatorship. If Mr. Rosenstein does get fired, I will be out in the street protesting this assault on our democracy. As we learned from Nixon's Watergate swan song, no president can be allowed to to operate outside of the laws of our democracy.
As former acting Attorney General, Sally Yates tweeted: "Make no mistake about what’s at stake here: firing Rosenstein would be the same unconscionable assault on the rule of law as firing Mueller. And you can’t fire a prosecutor because you’re unhappy he approved a search warrant that relates to your own conduct. No one is above the law."
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