Not according to Dahlia:
Rod Rosenstein Has Adopted Trumpian Talking Points
https://slate.com/news-and-politics...-anti-media-speech.html?via=homepage_taps_top
Rosenstein went to great lengths to celebrate the independence and dignity of both the DOJ and the rule of law. Indeed, he quoted no less an authority than Trump, who apparently once said that “we govern ourselves in accordance with the rule of law rather [than] … the whims of an elite few or the dictates of collective will.”
It was a few days too early to be a bit at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, but on the same night Trump himself was telling Hannity that he had no intention of allowing anyone in his administration to comply with lawful congressional subpoenas, Rod Rosenstein was holding Trump out as the man well suited to define law and order for the rest of us. The deputy attorney general also called out former FBI Director James Comey and President Barack Obama by name for their responsibility in allowing the Russia hack.
[...]
As Fox aired television Judge Andrew Napolitano’s assessment that Donald Trump had clearly committed multiple acts of obstruction for which he could be charged criminally, Rosenstein singled out politicians and the press for derision and scorn. His selective prosecution of wrongdoers included this claim: “Then there are the mercenary critics, who get paid [emphasis mine] to express passionate opinions about any topic, often with little or no information. They do not just express disagreement. They launch ad hominem attacks unrestricted by truth or morality. They make threats, spread fake stories, and even attack your relatives.”
Let’s replay that? “They launch ad hominem attacks unrestricted by truth or morality. They make threats, spread fake stories, and even attack your relatives.” He was not talking about Trump, surprisingly enough. He’s talking about the media. Trump, recall, is the living embodiment of the rule of law.
[...]
Nobody expected Rod Rosenstein to protect Robert Mueller by calling Donald Trump a vengeful bully. But in calling the media and elected officials paid and cynical liars, he’s again used the president’s tools to do further harm to the very institutions he seeks to defend. For all his lofty talk of the law as a grand cathedral, his speech will go down as yet another monument to the half-truths that now masquerade as political courage. That’s how we got to this place, where a Fox News judge is willing to call out criminal conduct in the White House as the Justice Department insults the political branches and the free press.
Rod Rosenstein Has Adopted Trumpian Talking Points
https://slate.com/news-and-politics...-anti-media-speech.html?via=homepage_taps_top
Rosenstein went to great lengths to celebrate the independence and dignity of both the DOJ and the rule of law. Indeed, he quoted no less an authority than Trump, who apparently once said that “we govern ourselves in accordance with the rule of law rather [than] … the whims of an elite few or the dictates of collective will.”
It was a few days too early to be a bit at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, but on the same night Trump himself was telling Hannity that he had no intention of allowing anyone in his administration to comply with lawful congressional subpoenas, Rod Rosenstein was holding Trump out as the man well suited to define law and order for the rest of us. The deputy attorney general also called out former FBI Director James Comey and President Barack Obama by name for their responsibility in allowing the Russia hack.
[...]
As Fox aired television Judge Andrew Napolitano’s assessment that Donald Trump had clearly committed multiple acts of obstruction for which he could be charged criminally, Rosenstein singled out politicians and the press for derision and scorn. His selective prosecution of wrongdoers included this claim: “Then there are the mercenary critics, who get paid [emphasis mine] to express passionate opinions about any topic, often with little or no information. They do not just express disagreement. They launch ad hominem attacks unrestricted by truth or morality. They make threats, spread fake stories, and even attack your relatives.”
Let’s replay that? “They launch ad hominem attacks unrestricted by truth or morality. They make threats, spread fake stories, and even attack your relatives.” He was not talking about Trump, surprisingly enough. He’s talking about the media. Trump, recall, is the living embodiment of the rule of law.
[...]
Nobody expected Rod Rosenstein to protect Robert Mueller by calling Donald Trump a vengeful bully. But in calling the media and elected officials paid and cynical liars, he’s again used the president’s tools to do further harm to the very institutions he seeks to defend. For all his lofty talk of the law as a grand cathedral, his speech will go down as yet another monument to the half-truths that now masquerade as political courage. That’s how we got to this place, where a Fox News judge is willing to call out criminal conduct in the White House as the Justice Department insults the political branches and the free press.
