Judicial Watch: McCabe Memo Details How Rosenstein Proposed Wearing a Wire into Oval Office

Judicial Watch has announced that it obtained a two-page memo, dated May 16, 2017, by then-Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe detailing how then-Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein proposed wearing a wire into the Oval Office “to collect additional evidence on the president’s true intentions.” McCabe writes that Rosenstein said he thought it was possible because “he was not searched when he entered the White House.”

The Justice Department turned over the document last Friday at 5:27 pm in a Judicial Watch February, 2019 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit.

The memo, which is redacted in key sections, purports to serve as a “contemporaneous recollection” of a meeting that day (“12:30 pm on 5/16/2017”) in Rosenstein’s office. McCabe writes he began the meeting by telling Rosenstein that he “approved the opening of an investigation of President Donald Trump … to investigate allegations of possible collusion between the president and the Russian Government, possible obstruction of justice related to the firing of FBI Director James Comey, and possible conspiracy to obstruct justice.” In justifying his investigation, McCabe refers to the memos Comey secretly wrote on meetings he had with President Trump and an NBC interview with Lester Holt. McCabe writes he “informed DAG [Rosenstein] that as a result of his role in the matter, I thought he would be a witness to the case.”

Rosenstein responded by recounting his discussion with President Trump, then-Attorney General Sessions and then-White House Counsel Don McGahn about Comey’s imminent firing and that President Trump wanted him to write a “memo explaining the reason” for Comey’s firing.

McCabe writes:

"As our conversation continued the DAG proposed that he could potentially wear a recording device into the Oval Office to collect additional evidence on the President’s true intentions. He said he thought this might be possible because he was not searched when he entered the White House. I told him that I would discuss the opportunity with my investigative team and get back to him.

"We discussed the issue of appointing a Special Counsel to oversee the FBI’s Russia investigation. The DAG said he has two candidates ready, one of whom could start immediately."

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