Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Trump refuses to rule out firing Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein over Russia probe

The President approved the release of a memo alleging surveillance abuses by FBI officials

Alexandra Wilts
Washington DC
Friday 02 February 2018 23:08 GMT
Comments
Donald Trump asked whether he will fire Rosenstein: 'you figure that one out'

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

President Donald Trump has refused to rule out firing Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.

Asked in the Oval Office whether he would axe the Justice Department official, Mr Trump said with a scowl to reporters: “You figure that one out.”

The President’s comment came after he approved the release of a memo alleging surveillance abuses by FBI officials investigating potential collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. The controversial document was crafted by the staff of Devin Nunes, the Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.

Hours after Mr Trump spoke, a White House spokesman said there have been no discussions or considerations about firing Mr Rosenstein.

Democrats have called the four-page Nunes memo a “shameful effort to discredit” the FBI, the Justice Department and Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

“The premise of the Nunes memo is that the FBI and DOJ corruptly sought a [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] warrant on a former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser, Carter Page, and deliberately misled the court as part of a systematic abuse of the FISA process,” the Democrats said in a statement.

“None of this is true,” they added. “The FBI had good reason to be concerned about Carter Page and would have been derelict in its responsibility to protect the country had it not sought a FISA warrant.”

But Mr Trump has suggested the memo shows political bias at the FBI that tainted the investigation into his campaign. The President has repeatedly said there was no collusion between his campaign advisers and the Russian government.

“A lot of people should be ashamed of themselves and much worse than that,” Mr Trump told reporters at the White House.

The memo states that Mr Rosenstein signed off on at least one FISA application to surveil Mr Page.

The FBI and its director, Christopher Wray, raised issues over the memo, with the bureau issuing a rare public statement on Wednesday declaring it had “grave concerns” about the accuracy of the classified document.

Since Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from all matters related to the Russia investigation, Mr Rosenstein has been overseeing the Russia probe for the Justice Department.

Last May, the Deputy Attorney General appointed Robert Mueller as special counsel to head the federal investigation after Mr Trump made the controversial move to fire FBI Director James Comey, who had been running the bureau’s inquiry.

Democrats from the House and Senate sent a letter to Mr Trump on Friday warning him against using the Nunes memo as a “pretext” to fire Mr Rosenstein or Mr Mueller.

“Firing Rod Rosenstein, DOJ (Department of Justice) leadership, or Bob Mueller could result in a constitutional crisis of the kind not seen since the Saturday night massacre,” the Democrats wrote, referring to President Richard Nixon’s firing of the Watergate scandal special prosecutor in the 1970s.

There has already been speculation for months over whether Mr Trump would fire Mr Mueller.

Also on Friday, Mr Sessions went off-script during remarks about human trafficking to praise his deputy. He declared that Mr Rosenstein - along with Rachel Brand, the current No 3 at the Justice Department – “both represent the kind of quality and leadership that we want in the department.”

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in