Is Rosenstein on the ropes?

Remember on Monday, when there was that fire drill when Axios reported Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had resigned? And then other outlets said he hadn’t resigned but was on his way to the White House to be fired? Well. A lot has happened since then, clearly, but as Josh and Ken taped today’s show, Rosenstein still had his job ahead of a high-stakes meeting with President Trump on Thursday. Will he be fired? Will he quit? And in either case, what would happen to the Russia investigation? Also happening Thursday: the hearing with Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford, his accuser. What can we expect from the outside lawyer Republican senators have brought in to question Ford? Would we learn different things if the FBI conducted an investigation? Plus, there’s a lot of defamation litigation to talk about, and we know Ken lives for this stuff. There’s that Ed Whelan Twitter thread and an update in Stormy Daniels’ defamation suit against President Trump, claiming he defamed her by saying she had lied about being threatened not to disclose her alleged affair with him. (Just wow.) Also: Judge Otero, if you’re listening, Ken’s a fan of you too.

U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein sits in the front row at the start of Supreme Court nominee judge Brett Kavanaugh's Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., September 4, 2018. Photo credit: Joshua Roberts/Reuters