Rod Rosenstein resigns: US deputy attorney general quits post

Mr Rosenstein's departure follows shortly after Robert Mueller's report on Russian meddling in the 2016 election was made public

(AP)

Deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein has submitted a letter of resignation to Donald Trump, with an effective date of 11 May.

Mr Rosenstein’s resignation comes two weeks after the Justice Department released special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russian meddling in the 2016 election, and the Trump campaign’s connection to those efforts.

In his letter, Mr Rosenstein thanked the president for the opportunity to serve in the Justice Department over the past 16 months, and noted that most individuals in his position did not last much longer than two years in the post.

Mr Rosenstein highlighted several areas that the administration had focused on, including reducing violent crime, curtailing opioid abuse, protecting consumers, improving immigration enforcement and building confidence in the police. He said the administration had seen productivity rise and crime fall.

“Our nation is safer, our elections more secure, and our citizens are better informed about covert foreign influence efforts and schemes to commit fraud, steal intellectual property and launch cyberattacks,” Mr Rosenstein wrote.

The outgoing deputy attorney general also wrote about the president personally, saying that Mr Trump was courteous and showed “humour” during their personal interactions with one another.

Mr Rosenstein played a key role in the special counsel’s investigation, which largely wrapped up its operations last month when Mr Mueller’s team delivered the document to the Justice Department.

Over much of the nearly two years that the special counsel’s office ran its investigation, Mr Rosenstein was in charge of oversight for the investigation. Mr Trump’s former attorney general, Jeff Sessions, had recused himself from matters related to that investigation since he was involved in Mr Trump’s 2016 campaign.