You have to understand that this transcript of a FBI deposition was released by a Republican.
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/04/09/fbi-doj-trump-obstructed-justice-james-baker-1264092
Two interesting points. First, it was widely believed within the FBI that Trump fired Comey to obstruct justice:
Under questioning in 2018 from a Democratic committee lawyer, Baker described numerous officials who were distressed that the president may have obstructed justice when he fired FBI Director James Comey in May 2017. Baker said he had personal concerns and that they were shared by not just top FBI brass but within other divisions and at the Justice Department as well.
"The leadership of the FBI, so the acting director ... The heads of the national security apparatus, the national security folks within the FBI, the people that were aware of the underlying investigation and who had been focused on it," Baker said, running through a list of officials he said were worried that the president may have fired Comey to hinder the Russia investigation."
Keep in mind though that the transcript is release by a Republican. So, here's the second take:
In the transcript of his testimony, Baker added that he was briefed on conversations between former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe — who assumed leadership of the FBI after Comey's firing — and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein about whether Rosenstein could wear a wire to gather evidence in an obstruction probe. Though officials close to Rosenstein have called his suggestion a joke, Baker told lawmakers that he had a far different impression.
"This was not a joking sort of time. This was pretty dark," Baker said.
Baker, who said he didn't personally meet with Rosenstein but had been informed of his comments by McCabe, described an environment in which Rosenstein was upset that Trump had used his memo criticizing Comey's leadership of the FBI as a pretense for firing him."
Much like an earlier prediction that there would be no criminal conspiracy because the result would be gross negligence not intentionally conspiring with Russia, I wonder if in the same way its going to be that Trumps unusual conduct with Russia was just Trump being Trump (i.e., no advisers, no lawyers, winging it), but that led seemingly everyone in the government to believe that Trump was a Russian asset?
The much darker view is that Trump duped Rosenstein on the memo to cover his tracks. In other words, to give him a pretext to fire Comey. No matter your view on that dispute, just consider that Rosenstein actual stayed on at the DOJ and that . .
. . .put him in the position of actually reviewing the Muller report (he is co-decision maker on collusion claim)
several shoes to still drop
