Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein defended special counsel Robert Mueller’s ongoing investigation, telling reporters Thursday that it is being managed in accordance with Justice Department regulations.
Rosenstein appointed Mueller in May 2017 after then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from the Russia investigation. Since then, Rosenstein has been in charge of oversight of the probe.
But with the removal of Sessions last month and the appointment of acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, there have been concerns regarding who actually oversees the day-to-day operations of the investigation.
Rosenstein said there will be news about oversight of the special counsel later Thursday.
“We’ll have more for you on that later today,” he told reporters Thursday during a press conference at the Justice Department headquarters in Washington.
“In terms of my role, as we’ve described previously, we’ve continued to manage the investigation as we have in the past and it’s being handled appropriately, whether it’s Bob Mueller or Rod Rosenstein or Matt Whitaker or Bill Barr, that investigation’s going to be handled appropriately by the Department of Justice,” he explained.
Democrats and critics have said Whitaker’s prior disapproving comments about the Mueller inquiry mean he must recuse himself.
Earlier Thursday, CNN reported that Whitaker has been told by ethics officials at the Justice Department that he does not need to recuse himself from oversight of Mueller’s investigation.
Barr, who served as attorney general from 1991 to 1993, was nominated by Trump on Dec. 7 to be the next attorney general.
Late Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Barr sent an unsolicited memo to the Justice Department in June that excoriated Mueller’s inquiry into potential obstruction of justice by Mueller.
When asked about the memo, Rosenstein said it has not had any impact on the investigation.
“The memo that you made reference to reflects Mr. Barr’s personal opinion. Lots of people offer opinions to the Department of Justice, but they don’t influence our own decision making,” Rosenstein said. “We have very experienced lawyers, and obviously our decisions are informed by our knowledge of the actual facts of the case, which Mr. Barr didn’t have. I didn’t share any confidential information with Mr. Barr, he never requested that we provide any nonpublic information to him, and that memo had no impact on our investigation.”
Rosenstein was also asked about legislation to protect the special counsel’s investigation.
A handful of Senators, both Republican and Democratic, have been pushing for a full vote on legislation that would protect Mueller should he suddenly be fired. That push has failed three times in the past four weeks.
“The investigation is being conducted in accordance with department regulation, and nothing anybody says is going to affect that. So I believe that investigation is being handled appropriately under the existing department regulations,” the deputy attorney general said.
Mueller has never fully confirmed the full scope of his investigation, but Rosenstein has issued two memos directing him to primarily focus on Russian interference in the 2016 election and whether there were any links between Moscow and the Trump campaign.
