BRIDGEWATER, N.J. -- As Air Force One streaked across the desert sky and Las Vegas faded in the distance, President Donald Trump began seeking opinions.
The TVs on the plane, tuned as always to Fox News, carried headlines about an explosive new story: Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had suggested wearing a wire to secretly record Trump, and raised the idea of using the 25th Amendment to remove the president from office.
On the flights both to and from a Missouri rally, Trump polled staff on the plane, called his outside network of advisers and kept a careful eye on what his favorite hosts on his favorite network were recommending.
The messages were mixed, but more were in favor of containing the urge to fire Rosenstein, a move that would declare open warfare with the Justice Department and cast doubt on the future of the special counsel's Russia probe, according to two people familiar with the exchanges but not authorized to publicly discuss private conversations.
Trump, though telling confidants that he felt the moment was another example of the "Deep State" and media conspiring to undermine him, held off dismissing Rosenstein.
But the aftershocks of the story are rattling Washington still.
The details of the memos written by a former deputy FBI director, Andrew McCabe, triggered immediate speculation that the information would give Trump the justification to do what he has long desired: dismiss Rosenstein, the Justice Department official overseeing special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election.
The story broke as Trump was in his motorcade heading toward a Department of Veterans Affairs event in North Las Vegas, Nev., on Friday, though some in the White House had been alerted to the report the day before. Rosenstein immediately put out a statement rebutting the story and then, after being summoned to the West Wing that evening by White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, put out a second, stronger denial.
Trump has not tweeted about the matter. The White House did not respond to requests for comment.
"He shouldn't fire Rosenstein unless you believe Rosenstein's lying. He says he did not do the things alleged," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. on Fox News Sunday.
Instead, Graham pointed his finger at others in the department who he said have "tried to destroy this president." He specifically referred to former FBI officials McCabe, Lisa Page and Peter Strzok.
"But there's a bureaucratic coup against President Trump being discovered here. Before the election, the people in question tried to taint the election, tip it to [Hillary] Clinton's favor. After the election they're trying to undermine the president." He added that he did not know "what Rosenstein did, but I know what McCabe or Page and Strzok did. They tried to destroy this president. If Rosenstein's involved, he should be fired. If he's not involved, leave him alone."
Graham told Fox News host Chris Wallace on Sunday that a new special counsel is required to investigate what happened at the FBI, and he called on Rosenstein to appoint one immediately.
"Rosenstein is doing the country a disservice by not appointing a special counsel" to look into FBI actions regarding Trump and Russia, he said.
Democrats urged that Rosenstein be spared.
The report "must not be used as a pretext for the corrupt purpose of firing Rosenstein in order to install an official who will allow the president to interfere with the Special Counsel's investigation," Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer of New York tweeted.
But the reports create even greater uncertainty for Rosenstein in his position at a time when Trump has lambasted the department's leadership and publicly humiliated both Rosenstein and Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Some of Trump's fiercest congressional allies had already floated trying to impeach the deputy attorney general.
It's also the latest revelation that could affect Mueller.
Sessions withdrew from the Russia inquiry soon after he took office, to Trump's dismay, and Rosenstein later appointed Mueller. Trump has resisted calls from conservative commentators for more than a year to fire both Sessions and Rosenstein and appoint someone who would ride herd more closely on Mueller or dismiss him.
The reported conversation about possibly secretly recording the president took place at a tense May 2017 meeting during the tumultuous period that followed Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey. The White House said that decision, which upset many rank-and-file agents, was based on the Justice Department's recommendation. The Justice Department issued a statement from one of the participants in the meeting who described the remark as sarcastic.
Information for this article was contributed by Jonathan Lemire and Eric Tucker of The Associated Press; and by Tom Hamburger of The Washington Post.
A Section on 09/24/2018