A newly disclosed email adds another wrinkle to the debate over whether Robert Mueller interviewed for the FBI director job after James Comey was fired before becoming special counsel, which President Trump claims he did, but Mueller denied under oath.
The Justice Department email, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by conservative watchdog Judicial Watch, shows former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein sending a note with the subject line “Mueller” and the message “withdrew from consideration for FBI director” to Jody Hunt, then-chief of staff for Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who recused himself from the Trump-Russia investigation. The email was sent the morning of May 17, 2017; Rosenstein appointed Mueller as special counsel later that day. Trump contends Mueller interviewed for the FBI spot the day before, claiming that presented a conflict of interest, while Mueller, who had been FBI director from 2001 through 2013, insisted he went to the White House only to provide advice about the FBI. Christopher Wray was picked for the job in June 2017.
During Mueller’s House testimony in July 2019, Rep. Greg Steube asked: “Did you indeed interview for the FBI director job one day before you were appointed as special counsel?” Mueller replied, “My understanding I was not applying for that job — I was asked to give my input on what it would take to do the job, which triggered the interview you’re talking about.” The Florida Republican pressed Mueller further, and Mueller said, “I interviewed with the president, and it was about the job and not about me applying for the job.”
Trump tweeted that day: “It has been reported that Robert Mueller is saying that he did not apply and interview for the job of FBI Director (and get turned down) the day before he was wrongfully appointed Special Counsel. Hope he doesn’t say that under oath in that we have numerous witnesses to the interview, including the Vice President of the United States!” Trump made similar claims in July 2018 that Mueller’s “conflicts of interest” included when “I turned him down to head the FBI” and, in May 2019, that Mueller was “seeking to be named the Director of the FBI” but “I told him NO.”
During Rosenstein’s May 23, 2017, interview with Mueller’s team, FBI notes indicate Rosenstein considered appointing a special counsel on May 10, the day after Comey was fired, and that Rosenstein’s “first conversation with Mueller for the position of special counsel” was that day. Rosenstein met with Mueller in person on May 12, and Hunt called Mueller that evening. Rosenstein and Sessions spoke with Mueller the next day, and “Mueller informed them he did not want to be interviewed for FBI director.” Rosenstein told the FBI that “the first candidate to be interviewed at the White House was Mueller,” but that section is redacted.
“Rosenstein and Sessions spoke with Mueller on Saturday, May 13. Mueller informed them he did not want to be interviewed for the FBI director position. Rosenstein instead convinced Mueller to share with Sessions Mueller’s views about ‘what should be done with the FBI.’ Sessions thought Mueller’s comments were ‘brilliant.’ Rosenstein did not want to interview Mueller and then reject him, so they made it clear they only sought his opinion,” the FBI interview with Rosenstein states. “Nevertheless, Mueller was placed on the White House’s list of potential candidates for FBI director … Mueller was interviewed for the position of FBI director, but later decided to withdraw from consideration.”
Sen. Chuck Grassley pressed Rosenstein during his Senate testimony in June 2020, asking about a May 12, 2017, email to Mueller: “The boss and his staff do not know about our discussions.” The Iowa Republican also asked about May 16, 2017, email from Rosenstein to a former deputy attorney general: “I am with Mueller. He shares my views. Duty calls. Sometimes the moment chooses us.”
“The first one refers to the fact that I had spoken with Director Mueller about the possibility, if I found it necessary to appoint a special counsel, whether he would be available … And Jeff Sessions … recused from that investigation,” Rosenstein said. “I was simply alerting Director Mueller, when you talk to the boss, the attorney general, keep in mind, he does not know anything about the Russia investigation.”
Rosenstein said when he sent the second email, “I was meeting with the deputy White House counsel, and we were talking about potential candidates for FBI director, and I had been speaking with the former deputy attorney general you have in mind, trying to encourage him to apply for the job, and he was resistant, he was reluctant to apply for the job, and I was lobbying for him to apply for the job.” The former deputy attorney general said, “When I said, ‘I’m with Mueller,’ I meant that literally, that Mueller was with me at the White House, and when I said, ‘You need to step up,’ I meant he needed to step up, I was encouraging him, the former deputy attorney general, to step up and apply to be FBI director.”
Mueller’s April 2019 report noted that Trump told advisers such as White House counsel Don McGahn and White House strategist Steve Bannon that Mueller “had interviewed for the FBI Director position shortly before being appointed as Special Counsel.” Mueller’s report notes that “the president’s advisors pushed back on his assertion of conflicts, telling the President they did not count as true conflicts.” McGahn said he refused Trump’s request to call Rosenstein “and say that the Special Counsel had conflicts of interest and must be removed.” Bannon “recalled telling the President that the purported conflicts were ‘ridiculous’ and that none of them was real.”
Mueller’s team concluded that Russia interfered in the 2016 election in a “sweeping and systematic fashion” but “did not establish” any criminal conspiracy between the Russians and the Trump campaign. Mueller also laid out 10 instances of possible obstruction of justice, but Attorney General William Barr and Rosenstein concluded Trump hadn’t obstructed justice.
