During an interview that aired on CBS’s 60 Minutes on Sunday, Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe said that United States Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein offered to wear a wire into the White House.
McCabe said the offer came in the context of a conversation about the firing of former FBI Director James Comey and if the Russian investigation was impacting Trump’s decision.
Here is what he told 60 Minutes’ Scott Pelley:
I can’t describe to you accurately enough the pressure and the chaos that Rod and I were trying to operate under at that time. It was incredibly turbulent, incredibly stressful. And it was clear to me that that stress was— was impacting the deputy attorney general. We talked about why the president had insisted on firing the director and whether or not he was thinking about the Russia investigation and did that impact his decision. And in the context of that conversation, the deputy attorney general offered to wear a wire into the White House. He said, “I never get searched when I go into the White House. I could easily wear a recording device. They wouldn’t know it was there.” Now, he was not joking. He was absolutely serious. And in fact, he brought it up in the next meeting we had. I never actually considered taking him up on the offer. I did discuss it with my general counsel and my leadership team back at the FBI after he brought it up the first time.
Pelley then probed what Rosenstein intended to gain by wearing a wire to the White House.
McCabe said this: “I can’t characterize what Rod was thinking or what he was hoping at that moment. But the reason you would have someone wear a concealed recording device would be to collect evidence and in this case, what was the true nature of the president’s motivation in calling for the firing of Jim Comey?”
He also said when the plan was discussed with the general counsel of the FBI, the general counsel had a “heart attack.”
“I think the general counsel had a heart attack,” McCabe admitted. “And when he got up off the floor, he said, “I, I, that’s a bridge too far. We’re not there yet.”
In September, the New York Times suggested Rosenstein considered secretly recording Trump.
Shortly before the 60 Minutes interview aired Sunday night, Trump tweeted out this:
Watch above, via CBS
Have a tip we should know? tips@mediaite.com
