Former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein offered praise of his ex-boss, Jeff Sessions, who has come under fire by President Trump as he seeks to regain his old Senate seat in Alabama.
During a hearing Tuesday with the Senate Judiciary Committee focused on the FBI’s Russia investigation, Rosenstein called Sessions “one of the most principled people I have ever met in Washington.”
Sessions served as attorney general from February 2017 to November 2018. A rift developed between him and Trump in 2017 when he recused himself from the investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia, after which Rosenstein appointed Robert Mueller as special counsel.
Sessions is now in a tough primary fight to regain his old Senate seat, facing off against former college football coach Tommy Tuberville.
Trump has not only endorsed Tuberville, but he has repeatedly lashed out at Sessions.
“Jeff, you had your chance & you blew it. Recused yourself ON DAY ONE (you never told me of a problem), and ran for the hills. You had no courage, & ruined many lives. The dirty cops, & others, got caught by better & stronger people than you. Hopefully this slime will pay a big price,” Trump tweeted last month. “You should drop out of the race & pray that super liberal @DougJones, a weak & pathetic puppet for Crazy Nancy Pelosi & Cryin’ Chuck Schumer, gets beaten badly. He voted for impeachment based on ‘ZERO’. Disgraced Alabama. Coach @TTuberville will be a GREAT Senator!”
That missive came after Sessions, once again, defended his decision to recuse himself from overseeing the Russia investigation.
“Look, I know your anger, but recusal was required by law. I did my duty & you’re damn fortunate I did. It protected the rule of law & resulted in your exoneration. Your personal feelings don’t dictate who Alabama picks as their senator, the people of Alabama do,” Sessions tweeted.
A primary runoff in Alabama has been pushed back to July 14 because of concerns about the coronavirus. The winner will face off against Democratic Sen. Doug Jones.
Sessions has explained that he recused himself from the investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia because he himself was peripherally a part of the campaign. Following his recusal, and after FBI Director James Comey was fired in May 2017, Rosenstein appointed Mueller to oversee the Russia investigation as special counsel. Trump and his allies often called the investigation a “witch hunt.”
Mueller’s investigation, which ended in the spring of 2019, was unable to find a criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia. It did, however, lead to convictions and guilty pleas from Trump associates over charges unrelated to Russia collusion.
