WaPo: Sessions said he'd consider resigning if Trump fired Rosenstein
Washington (CNN)Attorney General Jeff Sessions told White House counsel Donald McGahn he would have considered leaving if President Donald Trump fired Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who oversees the Russia probe, The Washington Post reported Friday.
The Post reported that Sessions called McGahn to glean details of an April 12 meeting that included Trump and Rosenstein, citing a person with knowledge of the call.
In that call, Sessions said he would have considered leaving his job if Trump had fired Rosenstein, according to the source. Another source told the Post, however, that Sessions' comment was less a threat and more an attempt to convey to the White House the difficult position that Trump firing Rosenstein would put him in.
CNN reported on April 12 that the White House was preparing an effort to undermine Rosenstein, who because of Sessions' decision to recuse himself from the investigation is the top authority in the Justice Department on the special counsel probe into Russian election meddling.
The Post report on Friday indicated Sessions made the call as Trump's anger with Rosenstein grew over the approval of raids on his personal attorney Michael Cohen. Trump has lashed out following the raids, which came shortly before the Justice Department revealed Cohen had been under investigation for months.
A source familiar with the matter told CNN on Thursday that Rosenstein told Trump at a recent meeting that he is not a target of the Cohen investigation.
The Justice Department declined to comment to CNN on the Post's report.
CNN's Laura Jarrett contributed to this report.
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