The hope that Rosenstein is a person of integrity, not complicit in the plot to protect Trump and his associates, requires navigating a very narrow strait. He must have been capable of expressing honestly the case against Comey (the same one all Democrats know by heart), unaware of Trump’s and Sessions’ intention to get rid of him, concerned by the evidence of possible Trump campaign collusion with Russia, and yet unconcerned by the near-certainty that Trump would replace Comey — for a ten-year term — with a worthless, corrupt crony who would bury this investigation, and fail to gather if not actively destroy evidence. Rosenstein must have felt that his personal authority and integrity would suffice to pursue and uncover the truth and produce a just outcome, even if surrounded above and below by corrupt figures either with greater authority or greater operational control. This sounds somewhat like the caricature of Comey himself that we were expected to believe. I never found it plausible. Perhaps Rosenstein has an independent prosecutor in his back pocket ready to go. I would be delighted to be proven wrong, but the grounds for belief in his integrity and competence, or hope for a real investigation before January of 2019, seem quite weak.