Trump, Rosenstein to meet Thursday

"The New York Times' story is inaccurate and factually incorrect", Rosenstein said.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) are cautioning against firing Rosenstein for now.

The New York Times and The Washington Post said that Rosenstein was preparing to be dismissed, following the publication of earlier reports that he had discussed ways to remove Trump over incompetence.

The announcement comes days after The New York Times reported that Rosenstein a year ago suggested secretly recording President Donald Trump and that he raised the idea of using the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office for being unfit to govern.

Trump was asked by reporters as he entered the United Nations on Tuesday if he was considering firing Rosenstein.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that at Rosenstein's request, he and President Donald Trump had "an extended" conversation about recent news stories.

Trump, who is in NY for the U.N. General Assembly, told reporters he would meet with Rosenstein on Thursday when he returns to Washington.

If Mr Rosenstein did lose his job, another Department of Justice official, the solicitor general, would be in line to take over supervision of the investigation into whether there was any collusion between Moscow and the Trump campaign before the 2016 election.

Rosenstein, the DOJ number two, has been overseeing Mueller because of Sessions' recusal from matters involving the 2016 Trump campaign in which he served, and the number three spot, associate attorney general, has been vacant since Rachel Brand's departure in February. Rosenstein, you may recall, was the one who wrote the memo criticizing then-FBI Director James B. Comey's stewardship of the FBI, a memo which was originally offered as the reason for Comey's termination.

ABC News reporter Jonathan Karl says Rosenstein is back at work, and attended a Cabinet-level meeting after his discussion with Kelly.

The reports immediately sparked a firestorm of concern that the president would move next to fire the special counsel Robert Mueller. But the Federal Vacancies Reform Act isnt clear on whether or not the president has that same authority if Rosenstein is fired.

"We expect that it should and, again, they've spent a year and a half and found nothing that has anything to do with this president because there was nothing", she added in response to Stephanopoulos pointing out that Mueller's probe has resulted in several convictions. As for the 25th Amendment comment, Rosenstein wouldn't be the only member of the Trump administration to suggest it. Michael Wolff's "Fire and Fury", Bob Woodward's "Fear" and Omarosa's "Unhinged" all contain anecdotes about that option being suggested.

The events are reminiscent of the "Saturday Night Massacre" - the evening that Richard Nixon fired his Attorney General, and his deputies, until he found someone willing to fire Archibald Cox, the Special Counsel investigating Watergate. He has said that he believes protecting the Mueller investigation is vital to the integrity of law enforcement and points out that he personally sacrificed to ensure that it was put on the right course.

"The truth is I've never sexually assaulted anyone, in high school or otherwise", Kavanaugh said in the interview on Fox News, where he appeared beside his wife Ashley.