So this morning the news broke that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had been fired, or resigned, or something like that. In any case, he was out. This caused a huge uproar on social media, of course, because this is the current bright red line for Donald Trump.

Here’s what the original Axios article looked like.

The New York Times promptly reported the same thing.

And they both got played by their “anonymous sources.” Again.

Here’s the current story at Axios: Rod Rosenstein offered to resign.

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has verbally “offered to resign” in discussions with White House Chief of Staff Kelly, according to a source close to Rosenstein, but as of now, it’s unclear whether his resignation has been accepted.

Background: Rosenstein talked last year about invoking the 25th Amendment and wearing a wire during Trump meetings, the N.Y. Times’ Adam Goldman and Michael S. Schmidt reported last week. He denied both allegations.

Clarification: This article and headline have been updated to add that it’s unclear whether the resignation offer has been accepted.

“Unclear” is such a flexible word. Covers a multitude of sins.

Yep, they got played, all right.

Gabe Sherman reports that the Rosenstein leak appears to have been a “smoke bomb” to knock Kavanaugh out of the news. “The strategy was to try and do something really big,” said a source familiar with Trump’s thinking. https://t.co/wWRGXJZBHA

— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) September 24, 2018