Tag: Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein

Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein said Trump ordered him to write the memo justifying James Comey’s firing, former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe writes

Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein Credit: Mary Turner, Reuters

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein did not choose to write the heavily scrutinized memo explaining former FBI Director James Comey’s firing, but did it under order from President Donald Trump, an upcoming book says.

Behind closed doors, Rosenstein complained about having to create the document used to justify the former FBI chief’s ouster in May 2017, former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe writes, according to the Guardian. Trump’s removal of Comey, which came during the bureau’s probe into Russian efforts to influence the 2016 election and whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Kremlin, is part of a probe into whether the president obstructed justice.

“He said it wasn’t his idea. The president had ordered him to write the memo justifying the firing,” McCabe wrote of remarks Rosenstein made at a May 2017 meeting, according to the Guardian.

View the complete February 8 article on the CNBC website here.

Sessions told White House that Rosenstein’s firing could prompt his departure, too

The following article by Sari Horwitz, Rosalind S. Helderman, Josh Dawsey and Matt Zapotosky was posted on the Washington Post website April 20, 2018:

Credit: Screengrab

Attorney General Jeff Sessions recently told the White House he might have to leave his job if President Trump fired his deputy, Rod J. Rosenstein, who oversees the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, according to people familiar with the exchange.

Sessions made his position known in a phone call to White House counsel Donald McGahn last weekend, as Trump’s fury at Rosenstein peaked after the deputy attorney general approved the FBI’s raid April 9 on the president’s personal attorney Michael Cohen. Continue reading “Sessions told White House that Rosenstein’s firing could prompt his departure, too”