Bruce Fein argued in his Sept. 30 letter, “To hold Mr. Trump accountable, Mr. Rosenstein should resign,” that, just as Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus resigned in the 1973 “Saturday Night Massacre,” so should Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein resign today, as the “optimal approach to holding [President] Trump accountable to the rule of law.”
However, I think Mr. Fein overlooked the essential difference between the situations then and now: In 1973, President Richard M. Nixon ordered Richardson and Mr. Ruckelshaus to fire special prosecutor Archibald Cox, whereas today, Mr. Trump has not (so far) ordered Mr. Rosenstein to fire special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. When Nixon gave his order, Richardson and Mr. Ruckelshaus had to comply or resign; they admirably chose to resign, upholding the rule of law. If at some point Mr. Trump should order Mr. Rosenstein to fire Mr. Mueller, then Mr. Rosenstein would indeed best serve the country by resigning. But until Mr. Trump gives such an order, Mr. Rosenstein will best serve us all by continuing to do his job, as advocated by Laurence H. Tribe and Norman L. Eisen in the Sept. 26 Wednesday Opinion essay to which Mr. Fein took exception, “Why Rosenstein should not resign.”
Paul Reinstein, Rockville
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