Jeff Sessions warns the White House that if Trump fires Rod Rosenstein he might have to quit as well.

Courtesy of WaPo: 

Attorney General Jeff Sessions recently told the White House he might have to leave his job if President Trump fired his deputy, Rod J. Rosenstein, who oversees the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, according to people familiar with the exchange. 

Sessions made his position known in a phone call to White House counsel Donald McGahn last weekend, as Trump’s fury at Rosenstein peaked after the deputy attorney general approved the FBI’s raid April 9 on the president’s personal attorney Michael Cohen.

Sessions’s message to the White House, which has not previously been reported, underscores the political firestorm that Trump would invite should he attempt to remove the deputy attorney general. While Trump also has railed against Sessions at times, the protest resignation of an attorney general — which would be likely to incite other departures within the administration — would create a moment of profound crisis for the White House. 

In the phone call with McGahn, Sessions wanted details of a meeting Trump and Rosenstein held at the White House on April 12, according to a person with knowledge of the call. Sessions expressed relief to learn that their meeting was largely cordial. Sessions said he would have had to consider leaving as the attorney general had Trump ousted Rosenstein, this person said. 

Another person familiar with the exchange said Sessions did not intend to threaten the White House but rather wanted to convey the untenable position that Rosenstein’s firing would put him in.

Now this may seem as if Sessions is finally sticking his chest out to defy his president, but he might be doing exactly what Trump wants him to do. 

Trump has already been warned about firing Sessions by his Republican supporters, who like and support the former Senator.

But if he fires Rosenstein, who his cohorts are already vilifying, and then Sessions quits of his own accord, that leaves Trump free and clear to appoint a new Attorney General who will not have to recuse himself from the Russia investigation and can hobble Robert Mueller with new guidelines and restrictions. 

This would allow Trump to gain back a little control, enough that he might even successfully neuter Mueller and make it almost impossible for him to do his job effectively.

As much as it pains me to say, the best thing for this investigation is that Jeff Sessions stays right where he is.

Of course it would also be very helpful if he did not fire Rod Rosenstein but I feel the writing is already on the wall.