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Rosenstein will be fired the day Mueller's report is filed, if not sooner, then investigated, and ultimately indicted.

It's a done deal, cheese-eaters. Nice try.

What can Mueller do if he finds evidence of criminality involving the president? He can and will (as authorized by Department of Justice regulations) file a report on his findings with the attorney general (or, since Attorney General Sessions is, in this case, recused, with the deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein).

Rosenstein will then be faced with the important decision of whether and how to make that report public—whether to convey it to Congress or not; whether to release it publicly or not. The regulations are so vague (they say only that he “may determine that public release of these reports would be in the public interest, to the extent that release would comply with applicable legal restrictions”) that they, in effect, give Rosenstein plenary discretion to do whatever he thinks is in the best interest of the country.

Trump will fire Rosenstein
Published on August 2, 2018

Gabriel Sherman from Vanity Fair reported that sources within and outside the White House, who have spoken to the president, have indicated a change in his attitude towards the Mueller probe.

Another source close to the president told Sherman that Trump has his mind set on Sessions ending the probe altogether, and has spoken of a timeline of only a ‘couple of week’. This source also indicated that if the probe does not end soon, Trump has threatened to fire Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein himself.

Six Takeaways From Trump’s Threats Against Rod Rosenstein
Thursday, April 12, 2018

The firing of James Comey happened without warning. After fuming about the FBI director during a May 2017 weekend trip, President Trump dismissed Comey in a shocking fashion. There was no time for other political actors, law enforcement officials, the commentariat, or the general public to prepare or to figure out how to react.

According to the Post, Trump “yelled about Rosenstein and Attorney General Jeff Sessions for several hours Monday and has continued to complain about them since.” CNN reported Thursday that the White House has begun prepping anti-Rosenstein talking points. When asked by a journalist if he planned to fire the deputy attorney general, Trump replied, “You figure that one out.”

The context for the newest round of reporting involves a confrontation between the White House and the Justice Department. The raid on the offices of Michael Cohen, Trump’s personal attorney, which Rosenstein personally authorized, represents a serious escalation of the investigation.

Why Rosenstein is not recused from supervising the Russia investigation remains a bit of a mystery. Rosenstein was involved in the Comey firing, after all. This means he is a witness to a key event that is the subject of the investigation into whether or not the president sought to obstruct justice. Ordinarily, that could be expected to result in a recusal.

The courts are a non-option. The president unquestionably has the authority to dismiss Rosenstein. The Mueller case, where there is a genuine legal question as to whether the president has authority to directly dismiss a special counsel, is different. But with Rosenstein, there simply isn’t any issue to take to the courts. Rosenstein serves at Trump’s pleasure, and he can be dismissed at his displeasure.

One of the most powerful statements in the Trump era has been citizens repeatedly taking to the streets to express their views on a diverse array of matters. In some ways, the most important reaction to a Rosenstein firing might come from the populace itself. And that raises a critical question: If the president fires the deputy attorney general, will people care?

5 U.S. Code Section 3345(a)(2), states: “notwithstanding [the default rule that the deputy becomes the acting], the President (and only the President) may direct a person who serves in an office for which appointment is required to be made by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to perform the functions and duties of the vacant office temporarily in an acting capacity subject to the time limitations of section 3346.”

In other words, the president may direct anyone who holds a “PAS” office—one requiring presidential appointment and Senate confirmation—to serve as acting attorney general for 210 days (and potentially longer, depending upon when the president nominates someone to the position). And under the terms of the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, the individual does not even have to be serving in the Justice Department at the time he or she is tapped to be acting attorney general...

Comey learned he was fired from TV, thought it was prank

Comey was in Los Angeles speaking to employees at an FBI field office when he saw the news break that President Trump had ousted him, the reports said.

According to the Times, Comey laughed when he saw the report, believing it to be a prank. Staffers then pulled him aside.