Rod J. Rosenstein’s mandate as a deputy attorney general and the top Justice Department official supervising the Russia inquiry appears to be in danger after President Trump declined to say Friday whether he had confidence in him, The Washington Post informs.
After Trump authorized release of a controversial memo on FBI surveillance practices by House Intelligence Committee Republicans, he was asked by a reporter whether he was more likely to fire Rosenstein and whether he had confidence in the 27-year-veteran of the Justice Department who oversees its day-to-day operations and special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation.
“You figure that one out,” Trump replied.
The memo says that Rosenstein signed an application to renew a surveillance warrant on Carter Page, a former Trump campaign adviser, and says that information justifying that and other warrant requests to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court was tainted by political bias. The FBI has said it has “grave concerns” that the memo leaves out important material, creating an inaccurate impression of its work.
Rep. Paul A. Gosar (R-Ariz.) said in a statement that he wanted Attorney General Jeff Sessions to seek the criminal prosecution of Rosenstein and several former Justice Department officials whom he described as “traitors to our nation.”
But in a letter to the White House, Democratic congressional leaders rushed to Rosenstein’s defense.
“We are alarmed by reports that you may intend to use this misleading document as a pretext to fire Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, in an effort to corruptly influence or impede Special Counsel Bob Mueller’s investigation,” top House and Senate Democrats wrote Trump.
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