HOOVER – Minutes before news broke nationally Monday morning that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein was being forced out of the White House, Attorney General Jeff Sessions left the stage immediately following his speech at the National Public Safety Partnership Symposium.
The attorney general did not attend the scheduled press availability with other law enforcement officials following his address.
This came after Sessions, as he received a resounding standing ovation to welcome him to the stage, quipped, “I may need this today.”
Here’s Sessions accepting his warm welcome in Hoover by saying, “I may need this today.” pic.twitter.com/o5WxVRc4na
— Sean Ross (@sean_yhn) September 24, 2018
“Going back to Washington, you never know what’s going to happen,” Sessions added, as the crowd laughed.
Worth noting that after getting a resounding standing ovation to welcome him to the stage this morning, Sessions quipped “I may need this today.” https://t.co/ZtbQ8Eppx8
— Sean Ross (@sean_yhn) September 24, 2018
The news of Rosenstein’s reported departure comes on the heels of anonymous-source-based accounts that Rosenstein suggested invoking the 25th Amendment to remove President Donald Trump from office and proposed wearing a wire to record his conversations with the president.
Update: Axios has since clarified their original reporting, stating that Rosenstein and President Trump will meet on Thursday, where a final decision on the Deputy AG staying or leaving will likely occur. They also report that the DOJ has already written a draft statement for Rosenstein’s probably departure.
Sean Ross is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn