During testimony before members of Congress on Tuesday, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein refused to answer a question about who directed him to write the memo President Trump cited to justify the firing of former FBI Director James Comey, saying it might be part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.
Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY) asked Rosenstein, “did anyone ask you to write the memo?” Rosenstein replied by saying he’s “not at liberty to talk about that now.”
“And the reason for that is, that if it is within the scope of Director Mueller’s investigation — and I’ve been a prosecutor for 27 years — we don’t want people talking publicly about the subjects of ongoing investigation,” he continued. “If there are other witnesses or subjects, we don’t want them hearing what other people may have said about it.”
Citing Special Counsel, Rosenstein says he's "not at liberty" to say whether someone urged him to write the memo recommending Comey's firing pic.twitter.com/CnsPgICyOJ
— Brad Bainum (@bradbainum) June 13, 2017
With Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused from investigations related to the 2016 presidential campaign, Rosenstein is the acting attorney general overseeing Mueller’s probe. In that role, Rosenstein has the authority to fire Mueller under some circumstances. But his refusal to answer a question about who directed him to write the infamous memo suggests he might also be a witness to a crime being investigated by the special counsel.
In the memo in question, Rosenstein criticized Comey’s handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation. He singled out a press conference Comey held last July during which he announced that he would not recommend Clinton be charged with crimes.
“It is not the function of the Director to make such an announcement,” Rosenstein wrote. “At most, the Director should have said the FBI had completed its investigation and presented its findings to federal prosecutors.”
In the letter Trump sent to Comey informing him that he was being fired, the president wrote that he had received memos from Sessions and Rosenstein “recommending your dismissal as the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. I have accepted their recommendation and you are hereby terminated and removed from office, effective immediately.” (Rosenstein’s memo, however, never explicitly recommends that Comey be fired.)
Trump’s rationale was obviously a pretext from the get-go, as he had spoken out in support of Comey’s tough treatment of Clinton during the campaign. During an NBC interview days later, Trump admitted that his frustration over the ongoing Russia probe played a role in his decision to fire Comey. Rosenstein appointed Mueller as special counsel about a week later.
On Tuesday, Rosenstein also indicated his conversations with Sessions prior to Comey’s dismissal could be a part of Mueller’s probe.
Rosenstein declines to comment on specifics of his convos w/ Sessions about Comey leading up to firing, says it cd be w/in Mueller's probe
— Liz Goodwin (@lizcgoodwin) June 13, 2017
On Monday night, Chris Ruddy — CEO of the right-wing media company NewsMax and a close friend of Trump’s — said Trump is considering firing Mueller. During during his testimony, Rosenstein said has seen no good reason to make that move at this time.
During his own testimony last week, Comey indicated Mueller’s probe includes an investigation of Trump for possible obstruction of justice.