RR a Grey Hat ? The timeline described in this article shows a different perspective of Rosenstein's actions "The Running Battle Between Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein and Andrew McCabe"  Exploring all angles of a story can bring to light previously missed information.  Q has said, "If RR is dirty, Mueller must also be dirty. If Mueller is dirty, RR must also be dirty. Common denominator. Why did Sessions pick RR? Everyone has an opinion. Few have the facts. Few know the plan. Midterms [save & push]?"  Qpost 1318  On May 9, 2017, Rosenstein wrote a letter recommending FBI Director Comey be fired. The subject of letter was: Restoring Public Confidence in the FBI. Comey would be fired that day. Unknown to everyone in the Trump Administration, that same day Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe was being interviewed by Agents from the FBI’s Inspection Division (INSD) regarding apparent leaks that occurred in an October 30, 2016 Wall Street Journal article, FBI in Internal Feud Over Hillary Clinton Probe by Devlin Barrett. McCabe would lie to the INSD Agents regarding his participation in the leaks as later disclosed in the Inspector General report, A Report of Investigation of Certain Allegations Relating to Former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe. McCabe would be fired for lying under oath at least three different times and is currently the subject of an Grand Jury investigation. McCabe held a pivotal role in what has become known as Spygate. He directed the activities of FBI Agent Peter Strzok and Lisa Page and was involved in all aspects of the Russia Investigation. He was also mentioned in the famous “insurance policy’ text: “I want to believe the path you threw out for consideration in Andy’s office – that there’s no way he gets elected – but I’m afraid we can’t take the risk. It’s like an insurance policy in the unlikely event you die before you’re 40,” At the time, nobody, including the INSD Agents, knew that McCabe had lied, nor were the darker aspects of McCabe’s actions fully known. In light of Comey’s firing, McCabe was now the Acting FBI Director and was immediately under consideration for the permanent position. Two days later, on May 11, 2017, President Trump addressed the Russia Investigation in an interview given to Lester Holt of NBC News. During the interview, the President made some surprising remarks regarding Comey’s firing and the impact on the Russia Investigation, noting he wanted the investigation to be “done properly”. He admitted the firing of Comey “probably will confuse people” and as a result, he might “expand” the Russia Investigation and possibly “even lengthen out the investigation.” He concluded by saying “I have to do the right thing for the American people.” As for Comey, President Trump noted, “he’s the wrong man for that position.” In the week following his firing, Comey leaked some memos of his interactions with President Trump to his friend Daniel Richman. The leaks happened on either the 15th or 16th of May 2017. Comey would later state he did so with the intention of forcing the appointment of a Special Counsel. For the last six months, DOJ Official Bruce Ohr had been secretly communicating with Christopher Steele. Ohr became the conduit between Steele, Fusion GPS, and the FBI after Steele was formally terminated by the FBI in late October or early November 2016. Ohr occupied the position directly below the newly installed Rosenstein. Ohr had been transmitting his communications with Steele through a series of interviews with the FBI that were documented in FD-302s, which serve as summarizing memos. The meetings between the FBI and Ohr came to an abrupt stop on May 15, 2017. On the morning of May 16, 2017, Rosenstein reportedly suggested that he secretly record President Trump to Acting FBI Director McCabe. This remark was reported in a New York Times article that was sourced from memos from the now-fired McCabe, along with testimony taken from former FBI General Counsel James Baker, who relayed a conversation he had with McCabe about the occurrence. Rosenstein issued a statement denying the accusations. Baker, who was part of McCabe’s group, was communicating with journalist David Corn and has admitted to receiving a copy of the dossier from Corn in the days following the election. Baker has also admitted to secretly meeting with Perkins Coie lawyer Michael Sussmann, who provided Baker with documents and electronic media related to Russian meddling in the election. Perkins Coie is the law firm for the DNC and the Hillary Clinton campaign. The alleged comments by Rosenstein occurred at a meeting where McCabe was “pushing for the Justice Department to open an investigation into the president.” An unnamed participant at the meeting framed the conversation somewhat differently, noting Rosenstein responded sarcastically to McCabe saying; “What do you want to do, Andy, wire the president?” Later, on the same day that Rosenstein had his meetings with McCabe, President Trump met with former FBI Director Robert Mueller, reportedly as an interview for the FBI Director job. The idea that Mueller would be considered for the FBI Director role seems highly unlikely, although not entirely impossible. Mueller had previously served as the FBI Director from 2001 to 2013 – two years beyond the normal ten-year tenure for an FBI Director. In 2011, Obama requested that Mueller stay on as FBI Director for an additional two years, which required special approval from the senate. We still don’t know what was actually said at the meeting between Mueller and President Trump. On May 17, 2017, the day after President Trump’s meeting with Mueller – and the day after Rosenstein’s encounters with McCabe – Rosenstein appointed Mueller as Special Counsel. Regardless of one’s opinion of Rosenstein, the May 17th appointment of Mueller accomplished one very significant thing. It shifted control of the Russia Investigation from the FBI and McCabe to Mueller. Rosenstein would retain ultimate authority for the probe and any expansion of Mueller’s investigation required authorization from Rosenstein. Interestingly, without Comey’s memo leaks, a Special Counsel would never have been appointed – the FBI, and possibly McCabe, would have remained in charge of Russia Investigation. McCabe was probably not going to become the permanent FBI Director but he was reportedly under consideration. Regardless, without Comey’s leak, McCabe would have retained direct involvement and the FBI would have retained control. Somewhere around June 29, 2017, Rosenstein signed the final Page FISA renewal. Later, during June 28, 2018 Congressional testimony, Rosenstein made some specific comments regarding the FISA signing: We sit down with a team of attorneys from the Department of Justice. All of whom review that and provide a briefing for us for what’s in it. And I’ve reviewed that one in some detail, and I can tell you the information about that doesn’t match with my understanding of the one that I signed. What Rosenstein was formally briefed on was different than the FISA materials put before the House and Senate Intelligence Committees by the DOJ. While some have made much of the fact Rosenstein didn’t actually read the materials himself I’ve been told this is the normal process. What is not normal is receiving a deceptive briefing from DOJ lawyers. On July 27 2017, Inspector General Horowitz notified Mueller of the newly discovered Strzok/Page texts which immediately resulted in Strzok being removed from the Special Counsel Investigation. Horowitz had found the texts some time earlier – on or before July 14, 2017. McCabe had authorized Page to leak information to reporter Devlin Barrett – and Page did so thinking she had been granted legal/official authorization to do so. Page, when confronted with McCabe’s denials, produced texts refuting the Deputy FBI Director’s deception. This is what likely led to the Inspector General uncovering the thousands of texts between Strzok and Page. On July 28, 2017, McCabe lied to IG Horowitz while under oath regarding the text messages between Strzok/Page. At this point, Horowitz knew McCabe was lying – although Horowitz did not yet know of the May 9th INSD’s interview with McCabe. On August 2 2017, Rosenstein secretly issued Mueller a revised Scope of Investigation & Definition of Authority Memo which remains heavily redacted. The full purpose of this Memo remains unknown. On this same day, Christopher Wray was named the new FBI Director. Two days later, on August 4, 2017, AG Sessions announced the formation of a newly established Leak Task Force. Rosenstein and Wray were tasked with overseeing all leak investigations. There’s been a lot of speculation as to what lies with Rosenstein’s memo, but consider the title – Scope of Investigation & Definition of Authority – and do so in the context of events. That memo was probably specifically designed to remove any residual FBI influence – specifically that of McCabe, from the Russia investigation. The appointment of Wray as FBI director helped cement this. McCabe was finally completely neutralized. Read more here Additional info on McCabe/IG Theory on Sessions, IG here and here