In the last several years, the term “deep state” has been talked about a lot and has grown in popularity.

The term “deep state” was defined in 2014 by Mike Lofgren, a former Republican U.S. congressional aide, as “a hybrid association of elements of government and parts of top-level finance and industry that is effectively able to govern the United States without reference to the consent of the governed as expressed through the formal political process.”

There has been much debate whether a deep state truly exists orrather is just a figment of the imagination derived from conspiracy theorists.

However, after the op-ed essay in The New York Times on September 5, 2018 which was written by an anonymous “senior official” in the Trump administration, it seems clear that the “deep state” truly exists and is alive and kicking!

Since President Trump’s election, a lot of people in the FBI have been fired, demoted or left on their own, which has been a big step in clearing out the “deep state”. As President Trump likes to say, this is part of the process of “draining the swamp”.

President Trump recently said at a rally that the “deep state” has been mostly cleaned up & that the only thing left is the stench, which he will clean up soon.

Since President Trump’s election, with the above-mentioned firings at the FBI & DOJ, a lot has been cleaned up from the “deep state”. However, as long as Rod Rosenstein is still the Deputy Attorney General, he cannot say there is only a stench left of the “deep state”.

In my opinion, Rod Rosenstein is the heart of the “deep state”, not just a stench.

Consider this: it has been reported that Rod Rosenstein signed at least one of the FISA warrants to spy on the Trump campaign. There are also reports that he was one of the people that advised Attorney General Jeff Sessions that he needs to recuse himself for anything related to the Russia collusion case against the Trump campaign. He also wrote a memo to President Trump which laid out a case to fire the then-director of the FBI, James Comey. After President Trump fired James Comey, Rosensteinappointed special counsel Robert Mueller to investigate Donald Trump. It is astonishing that the same person who wrote a memo to the President how James Comey tarnished the FBI would then be able to appoint a special counsel, when the President reportedly reacted to the memo by firing James Comey. Many speculate that he is one of the key players in redacting information Congress has been requesting in their investigations (much of which when it gets unredacted, is clear there was no security issues demanding that they be redacted in the first place).

There is more. Though suffice it to say, a lot of it centers around Rod Rosenstein.

This leads us to some questions about why President Trump seems to be taking a relatively laid-back approach with Rod Rosenstein. This is happening despite allegations that came out recently that back in early 2017, Rosenstein wanted to record his conversations with the President & possibly invoke the 25th amendment early in his presidency.

President Trump is astute. He knows the art of the deal. There is growing speculation that President Trump is using this new leverage he has over Rod Rosenstein to end the special counselin a quiet way. If he lets Rosenstein stay, at least temporarily, in exchange for Rosenstein winding down the investigation, it is a win/win for both of them. President Trump will finally get the investigation cloud lifted (which in my opinion, was bogus from the start). This way, Rosenstein can exit the DOJ respectfully, after the midterm elections.

There are many moving parts here, but this theory seems to make the most sense to me. Especially after President Trump ordered to have material requested by Congress unredacted only to walk it back after meeting with Rosenstein, and then gave over the decision to the Inspector General to decide. There is no question in my mind that he wants to get rid of Rosenstein (and Jeff Sessions) after the midterm elections. He is wisely getting the most out of Rosenstein until he fires him or lets him leavegracefully.

IMC

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