Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein disclosed frustration that the White House pointed to him to defend the firing of former FBI Director James Comey, according to a new report.
Although Rosenstein told Congress last year that he “stand[s] by” the memo he wrote that outlined Comey’s job performance, he argued it negatively impacted his reputation and seemed torn by the decision, the New York Times reports.
Following Comey’s ouster, Rosenstein was reportedly “shaken,” “unsteady,” and “overwhelmed,” according to the New York Times.
But a spokesperson for the Justice Department claimed that Rosenstein was rather upset that McCabe did not inform him of memos Comey had written outlining conversations he had with President Trump.
“To be clear, he was upset not because knowledge of the existence of the memos would have changed the [Deputy Attorney General’s] decision regarding Mr. Comey, but that Mr. McCabe chose not to tell him about their existence until only hours before someone shared them with The New York Times,” Flores said.
Comey was fired by President Trump in May 2017. Trump initially said Comey was fired per the suggestion of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Rosenstein, but then said shortly thereafter the “Russia thing” was a factor.
The report comes after the Justice Department’s inspector general determined in a recent report that Comey was “insubordinate” and “affirmatively concealed” his intentions from leadership at the agency regarding the investigation on Hillary Clinton’s emails.
But the report ultimately determined that though at times improper behavior was exhibited from FBI officials, the actions did not alter the results of the Clinton investigation.
[Related: James Comey defiant after IG report]
Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray appeared before the House Judiciary Committee this week. Rosenstein is overseeing special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Kremlin.
