Whatever it is that’s going on right now — a criminal investigation of President Trump for obstruction of justice, perhaps — took an interesting twist when Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein issued a statement Thursday night cautioning Americans against stories attributed to anonymous officials … which would include just about every story published since January or so.
The very best part of the statement, though, was the way it managed to send journalists searching for that perfect word to describe it. What could Rosenstein mean, “be skeptical about anonymous allegations”?
Strange new statement from Deputy AG Rosenstein on 'anonymous allegations', says "Americans should be skeptical". pic.twitter.com/BxRCCvRWXg
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) June 16, 2017
Curious statement from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein: "Americans should be skeptical about anonymous allegations." pic.twitter.com/31AdGlN9P4
— Dan Linden (@DanLinden) June 16, 2017
Inbox: Bizarre statement from DAG Rosenstein pic.twitter.com/EVAUJpJWMP
— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) June 16, 2017
Just strange: pic.twitter.com/fMqexi5nS2
— Adam Goldman (@adamgoldmanNYT) June 16, 2017
This is, um, an interesting statement from Rod Rosenstein pic.twitter.com/fjGkLL8ciY
— Seung Min Kim (@seungminkim) June 16, 2017
What an odd statement – that feels consistent with the White House's recent war on leaks pic.twitter.com/Ci1CZ3uE7I
— Jonathan Lemire (@JonLemire) June 16, 2017
Have literally never seen a statement like this https://t.co/94zbnIqsVc
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) June 16, 2017
What's clear: Rod Rosenstein does not like anonymous sources.
What's not: Why he's putting out this bizarre statement. pic.twitter.com/W5gRIGtgRS
— Matt Viser (@mviser) June 16, 2017
That makes two votes for “bizarre,” one for “curious,” one for “interesting,” two for “strange,” one for “odd” … and add a late entry for “super odd.”
Is he suggesting the sources for these stories are based in foreign countries? If so, super odd. https://t.co/AEUDZOvTdp
— Chris Cillizza (@CillizzaCNN) June 16, 2017
Why would he put that out? Other than because he was told to.
— Rob (@RobV_13) June 16, 2017
This is weird … all of the usual suspects are wondering why Rosenstein would issue a caution about believing anonymous sources. Which reporter is getting ready to drop tomorrow’s anonymously sourced 5 p.m. bombshell and isn’t telling?
https://twitter.com/celestemc/status/875530186799939584
He's been directed to. He's clearly working for 45.
— Alex LaCasse (@XanderCasse) June 16, 2017
https://twitter.com/Leadback_/status/875528389909659648
I'm gonna guess Rosenstein got an angry phone call tonight. pic.twitter.com/5j7G2P4pY7
— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) June 16, 2017
Perhaps there is a big story about to break based on foreign sources
— KK (@kapisth) June 16, 2017
So…there are leaks about Trump that are coming from – or about to come from – OTHER countries? https://t.co/QoVkd8mo3Q
— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) June 16, 2017
We’ll have to see. As strange as the statement might seem, it’s nice that there was a name attached to it in case anyone has questions.
strange. Trump's own attorney called the leak "illegal" rather than calling it fake https://t.co/hOKuKJprnI
— Matt Pearce ? (@mattdpearce) June 16, 2017
Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein just issued an unusual statement basically telling people not to believe leaks. pic.twitter.com/VqfDIm1cqY
— Eric Geller (@ericgeller) June 16, 2017
Rosenstein also seems to hint that the USG knows of some Five Eyes officials leaking, which would not be super surprising.
— Eric Geller (@ericgeller) June 16, 2017
Theory: POTUS called him and said "put out a statement saying I'm not under investigation" and this was the best he could do. https://t.co/51JXCVN1vM
— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) June 16, 2017
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ALT CNN HEADLINE: Our sources don’t know if this is true or not, but please click because RUSSIA https://t.co/4ahXKd71Ao
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) May 30, 2017
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