Former Attorney General Eric Holder, a Democrat, has some advice for Republican Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein: Don’t resign.
“My advice to him would be to not resign. To do the job as he has done. We disagree on policy on a lot of different things. But, I think he’s done the job in an honest way,” said Holder in an interview with SiriusXM’s Joe Madison set to air Tuesday.
Rumors spread in Washington Monday that Rosenstein was either fired or had resigned after a New York Times report said Rosenstein talked about using the 25th Amendment to oust Trump. Rosenstein denied those reports, but it became clear later that Rosenstein and Trump would meet on Thursday to talk about those reports, raising the risk that Rostenstein might still be at risk of losing his job.
Holder said if Trump wants to boot Rosenstein, who oversees Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russia, he should be forced to fire him.
“He has allowed the Mueller investigation to proceed. And, if that is going to result in his being fired well, so be it. Don’t give them the satisfaction of a resignation,” Holder said.
Holder described Rosensteins’ fate as a “two-act play.”
“First act is, does Rod Rosenstein leave the Justice Department, and the second act is, who takes his place and what does that person do with the power that he or she has? I think we just have to wait and see,” he said.
“If Rod leaves, will his replacement be as committed as Rod has been to the continuation of the Mueller investigation, give the Mueller investigation the resources and the independence to do the job the way in which I know Bob Mueller can do?” he asked. “But you cannot allow somebody to replace Rod, if he leaves, who will have a negative impact on the investigation or even potentially shut it down. That is unacceptable and if something like that happens, the American people have to really raise their voices.”
[Also read: Trump ally Jim Jordan calls on Rod Rosenstein to testify before Congress]
