line of succession. (Solicitor General Noel Francisco is next after Rosenstein.)

line of succession. (Solicitor General Noel Francisco is next after Rosenstein.) However, ita€™s possible that Trump could try and use a law called the Vacancies Act to slot in someone from elsewhere in the government (any appointee already confirmed by the Senate would do).","textStyle"™:" anf-cts-1","type":"text"}, {"identifier"™:" anf- heading3-4", "layout": "headinglLayout", "role":"heading3","text":"A New York Times report amped up discussions of Rosensteind€™s ouster", "textStyle":"headinglTextStyle", "type":"text"}, {"identifier":" anf-photo- 4","imageIdentifier":"a6aca5684809e2330274Jeel180cc681b", "layout": "photoLayout", "role":" photo", "type": "scalable image"}, {"identifier":" anf-caption-— 8", "Layout": "captionLayout", "role":"caption", "text": "Mario Tama/Getty", "textStyle":"captionTextStyle", "type": "text"}, {"additions": [{"URL":"https:/ /www.wsj.com/articles/its-fantastic-trump-warms-to-rosenstein 1533720601", "range":{"length":26,"start":67},"type":"link"}],"identifier":" anf-body- 10","layout"™: "bodyLayout", "role": "body", "text":"For a time, it appeared that Rosenstein had weathered the storm. A Wall Street Journal report from early August even claimed that his and Trump這s relationship was improving.","textStyle":" anf-cts- i", "type": "text"}, {"identifier":" anf-body- 35","layout":"bodyLayout", "role":"body", "text":"Later that month, however, Paul Manafort was convicted of financial crimes charged by Mueller, and Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to tax, bank, and campaign finance violations referred by Mueller to SDNY. Then, a week and a half ago, Manafort struck a plea deal with Mueller and agreed to cooperate. Cohen, too, has reportedly talked with Muellerde€™s team for hours in W recent weeks.","textStyle":" anf-cts-1","type"™:"text"}, {"identifier":" anf- medium_rectangle advertisement 5","layout":" defaultComponentLayout", "role":"medium_rectangle advertisement", "type"™:"m edium rectangle advertisement"}, {"additions"™: [{"URL":"https://apple.news/AdHolAGpBRiCpA YZtit9nva", "range": {"length":49, "start ":95},"type":"link"}],"identifier":" anf-body- 11","layout":"bodyLayout", "role": "body", "text":"But what seems to have put Rosensteind€™s future in the most immediate jeopardy was a report the New York Timesa€™s Adam Goldman and Michael Schmidt published on Friday.","textStyle":" anf-cts- 1", "type": "text"}, {"additions": [{"URL":"https://apple.news/A45wIUgRLQ3iB- xXHJaxlHag", "range": {"length":14, "start ":372},"type":"link"}],"identifier":" anf-body- 12","layout":"bodyLayout", "role": "body", "text": "The report describes purported conduct by Rosenstein in mid-May 2017, during the chaotic days between Comeya€™s firing and Rosensteind€™s decision to appoint Mueller. The Times claimed that, in meetings with top FBI and Justice Department officials, Rosenstein made two eyebrow-raising suggestions: first, that they try to secretly record the president, and second, using the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office. (Neither was carried out.)","textStyle":" anf-cts-1","type":"text"}, {"identifier":" anf-body- 36","layout":"bodyLayout", "role":"body","text":"The Times report was based primarily on anonymous source accounts and descriptions of contemporaneous memos written by then- acting FBI director Andrew McCabe. But Rosenstein publicly disputed the report. And in the hours after its publication, various outlets were told by an anonymous source in the room for the 4€cerecordingd€ comments that Rosenstein was clearly being sarcastic.","textStyle":" anf-cts- 1", "type"™:"text"}, {"additions": [{"URL":"https://apple.news/A2eqDOJadTJexXuNdvwiSJdkw", "ra nge":{"length":22,"start":215}, "type™:"link"}],"identifier":" anf-body- 13", "layout": "bodyLayout", "role": "body", "text":"Trump critics fearful of Rosensteinde™s ouster soon latched onto the d€ehe was being sarcastica€ excuse. But the Timesd€™s Michael Schmidt professed to be quite confident that wasnd這t the case. He said in an interview with Slateae€™s Isaac Chotiner:","textStyle":" anf-cts- i", "type":"text"}, {"components": [{"components": [{"identifier":" anf-quote- i","lLayout"™:"quoteLayout", "role": "quote", "style":"innerQuoteContainerStyle", "text": "If this was a joke, we donde€™t think it would have been so difficult for us to have worked to get to this information. If this was a joke, this would not have been memorialized, documented, and discussed in the FBI in the way that it was. If this was a joke, Rod Rosenstein probably wouldnad€™t have made it more than once. Also, if this was a joke, the other thing is, this 25th Amendment stuff is in a memo as well. So this is liked€"is this a broader conspiracy of jokes that was going on?", "textStyle":"quoteTextStyle", "type™:"text"}],"identifier":" anf-container- 3","layout":" defaultComponentLayout", "role"™:"container", "style":"innerQuoteContainerst yle", "type"™:"container"}],"identifier":" anf-container- i", "layout": "pullquoteContainerLayout", "role": "container", "style": "quoteContainerstyle" ,"type™:"container"}, {"additions": [{"URL":"https://apple.news/AHyL7Ral 6SB- hvNIQeowo7A", "range": {"length":24, "start ":32},"type":"link"}],"identifier":" anf-body- 14","layout":"bodyLayout", "role": "body", "text":"Indeed, other accounts, such as from the Washington Post, seem to confirm that McCabe thought Rosenstein was serious and has W HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_028332