http://web.archive.org/web/20170720235709/http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/deputy-ag-rosenstein-sees-no-reason-to-recuse-himself-from-russia-probe-justice-dept-says/ar-BBCMnZQ
Deputy AG Rosenstein sees no reason to recuse himself from Russia probe, Justice Dept. says(WaComPost)
Rosenstein, who has been on the job only about six weeks, has privately told people at the Justice Department that he may need to step aside from his role supervising the special-counsel investigation, according to officials familiar with the conversations.
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In previous public statements, Rosenstein has acknowledged the possibility of his recusal if circumstances were to change, and recent events have raised fresh questions about whether Justice Department lawyers could soon decide his recusal is necessary.
The Washington Post reported earlier this week that the special-counsel probe is investigating the president’s decision to fire FBI director James B. Comey — a decision in which Rosenstein played a key role, meaning he could be considered a witness.
Lawmakers and others have raised questions about whether it is appropriate for Rosenstein to oversee the special-counsel probe as it now explores whether the president obstructed justice.
“As the deputy attorney general has said numerous times, if there comes a point when he needs to recuse, he will,” Justice Department spokesman Ian Prior said in a statement. “However, nothing has changed.”
The statement followed a report by ABC News that Rosenstein had discussed the recusal issue internally.
On Friday morning, Trump, in a tweet, appeared to be attacking Rosenstein.
“I am being investigated for firing the FBI Director by the man who told me to fire the FBI Director! Witch Hunt,” the president said on Twitter.
On May 9, Trump summoned Rosenstein and Attorney General Jeff Sessions to the White House to discuss Comey, a meeting that ended with the president instructing the Justice Department leaders to put their criticism of Comey in writing.
The subsequent memo from the deputy attorney general was a blistering critique of Comey’s handling of the FBI’s investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email server.
Trump said in an interview with NBC News that he would have fired Comey even without Rosenstein’s memo. In the interview, the president said he was thinking of “this Russia thing” when he decided to dismiss Comey.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Friday she is “increasingly concerned” that Trump will try to fire special counsel Robert S. Mueller III and Rosenstein.
“The message the president is sending through his tweets is that he believes the rule of law doesn’t apply to him and that anyone who thinks otherwise will be fired,” Feinstein said in a statement.
On May 17, Rosenstein appointed Mueller, a former FBI director, as special counsel to investigate possible coordination between Trump associates and Russian officials during the 2016 presidential election — and any other issues tied to that probe.
If Rosenstein were to recuse himself, the task of overseeing the special counsel would fall to the Justice Department’s third-highest-ranking official, Rachel Lee Brand.
The Russia investigation has already put the Justice Department in an unusual position.
Under department policy, it would normally be the attorney general who oversees the special counsel.
But Sessions recused himself from any investigation on the presidential election after reports emerged that he had not fully disclosed during his confirmation hearing his meetings with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in 2016. Sessions said he was recusing himself because of his role in the Trump campaign.