I admit that this is my own thoughts on this topic, so take it with a grain of salt. However, the recent stream of stories over the last couple of days has led me to see a pattern that I think is important to point out, even if it turns out to be wrong. Here is my concern at the moment…
1. (The true source of the leak is unknown, but this is a potential source.) Trump, his lawyers, and the WH (perhaps the VP and his team) purposely leaked that he was under investigation. He would have known this as the FBI would have informed him that he was now a target.
2. They used this leak to then attack the FBI for leaking, further attempting to undermine Mueller and Rosenstein.
3. Trump then attacks Rosenstein on twitter, attempting to highlight Rosenstein’s potential conflict of interest. This conflict of interest only exists if it is KNOWN that there is an investigation into Trump for obstruction related to Comey’s firing. That is, the accusation of a conflict of interest is that Rosenstein wrote the memo related to Comey’s firing. If this is not under investigation, he has no conflict of interest. If there is, he might.
4. They leak (who I am not sure) that Rosenstein has considered recusing himself to further encourage him to do so.
I believe the end game in this scenario is to remove Rosenstein from the equation without having to fire him (e.g. Friday Night Massacre). Perhaps the hope is (or they know) that the person under him, Rachel Brand, either will fire Mueller or will not know how to properly oversee the investigation?