\u2018I would much prefer keeping Rod Rosenstein,\u2019 Trump said at a news conference in New York; Rosenstein is overseeing special counsel Robert Mueller\u2019s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, and his dismissal would put that probe in jeopardy<\/b>
\nA highly anticipated meeting between President Donald Trump and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein was postponed until next week to avoid conflicting with a dramatic Senate hearing involving Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, the White House said Thursday.
The two were set to meet Thursday following news media reports that Rosenstein last year discussed possibly secretly recording the president and using the Constitution\u2019s 25th Amendment to remove him from office.
But White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the men agreed to reschedule their meeting because \u201cthey do not want to do anything to interfere with the hearing.\u201d
Amid speculation that the meeting could result in Rosenstein\u2019s dismissal or resignation, Trump said Wednesday that he would \u201ccertainly prefer not\u201d to fire Rosenstein and that the Justice Department\u2019s No. 2 official had denied making the remarks first attributed to him in a New York Times report.
\u201cI would much prefer keeping Rod Rosenstein,\u201d Trump said at a news conference in New York. \u201cHe said he did not say it. He said he does not believe that. He said he has a lot of respect for me, and he was very nice and we\u2019ll see.\u201d
Trump added, \u201cMy preference would be to keep him and to let him finish up.\u201d
White House counsellor Kellyanne Conway would not say Thursday when the meeting would take place, but stressed that the two will talk and Trump has made clear \u201che would prefer that the deputy attorney general stay on the job and complete the job.\u201d
Rosenstein is overseeing special counsel Robert Mueller\u2019s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, and his dismissal would put that probe in jeopardy and create a political storm.
The meeting delay prolongs the uncertainty of Rosenstein\u2019s status.<\/p>\n

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