Remember all the reports that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein was on thin ice with Donald Trump? Then months later he not only hung onto his job, but even extended his time. This revealing story from The Washington Post may offer an explanation. It references a conversation Rosenstein had with Trump following the New York Times report that he once suggested wearing a wire to record Trump:

Rosenstein — who, by one account, had gotten teary-eyed just before the call in a meeting with Trump’s chief of staff — sought to defuse the volatile situation and assure the president he was on his team, according to people familiar with matter. He criticized the Times report, published in late September, and blamed it on former deputy FBI director Andrew McCabe, whose recollections formed its basis. Then he talked about special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation of Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and told the president he would make sure Trump was treated fairly, people familiar with the conversation said.

We expect Congress may want to hear more about all this soon.