Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said Tuesday he's seen no basis for firing Robert Mueller, the former FBI director he appointed as special counsel to oversee an investigation into potential coordination between the Trump presidential campaign and Russian Federation.
Rod Rosenstein told lawmakers of a Senate appropriations subcommittee that he has seen no good cause to remove special counsel Robert Mueller from the probe.
"As such", he said, "I have no knowledge about this investigation, as it is ongoing today, beyond what has been publicly reported".
South Carolina Republican Sen. And it's possible that Rosenstein could refuse, meaning he would either have to resign or Trump would have to fire him, creating a situation eerily reminiscent to Nixon's Saturday Night Massacre.
"I think the best thing to do is to let Robert Mueller do his job". Gingrich said he is troubled by Democratic donations of Mueller's picks to help lead the probe. Susan Collins, R-Maine, asked Rosenstein at a budget hearing Tuesday what he would do if Trump ordered him to fire Mueller, who is investigating Russian interference in the USA elections and possible Russian ties to Trump's campaign.
It would be hard to make the case, he said, that the experience of interviewing for Federal Bureau of Investigation director would make it impossible for Mueller to fairly exercise the broad discretion afforded to prosecutors. He added later: "As long as I'm in this position, he's not going to be fired without good cause", which he said he would have to put in writing.
She noted that former FBI Director James Comey briefed both her and Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) three months ago - "and it was a very full and good brief", she said.
Under questioning from Sen.
Tough rough: US Open conditions can rob drama from a major
Not only is it a new course for the players but also to the fans of Major Championship golf. If you do miss a green, it's not that you're going to be chipping out of the thick rough.
White House spokesman Sean Spicer did not explicitly endorse Sessions' appearance, saying in response to a question, "We're aware of it, and we'll go from there".
If questions arise about what matters Sessions should stay away from, he said, a career official in Rosenstein's office is consulted.
Ahead of the hearing there had been suggestions that Sessions might have had a third, unreported, encounter with Kislyak in April 2016, at Washington's Mayflower Hotel, where candidate Trump was giving his first major foreign policy speech. "If there were good cause", I would consider it", Rosenstein testified. After responding that he had not, Rosenstein reassured Shaheen of his confidence in the process.
You may recall that Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from any investigative matters related to Russian Federation, and that it fell to the next-in-command, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, to make the call to appoint Mueller. So let's briefly review this most abnormal chain of events: The president was informed on January 26 that the FBI was investigating his national security adviser, Michael Flynn. "I have confidence in Bob Mueller". Leahy told Rosenstein "you are not the witness who should be behind this table".
Sessions refused to say whether he had ever discussed the Russian Federation investigation with Trump, arguing that he could not disclose private communications with the president. Leahy says he wants to know why Sessions "has provided false testimony" about those contacts.
Ruddy is a longtime friend of Trump who reportedly met with senior White House aides earlier on Monday but did not speak to the president.
If Rosenstein took the high road, some critics of Trump hope that Congress could then rise to the occasion and hold the president accountable.
Comments