President Trump wasn’t particularly pleased when he found out Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein was from Baltimore, according to a report Wednesday.
In an interview with the New York Times, Trump discussed his dismay when he learned that his attorney general, Jeff Sessions, had recused himself from any investigations related to Russian interference in the election and possible connections to Trump’s campaign. He said he wouldn’t have nominated Sessions if he knew Sessions would opt for a recusal.
The president then said he asked Sessions about his deputy, Rosenstein, who was confirmed in April after Sessions’ recusal by a 94-6 vote in the Senate. “‘Who’s your deputy?'”, Trump said he asked Sessions. He added that Sessions “hardly knew” Rosenstein.
“So his deputy he hardly knew, and that’s Rosenstein, Rod Rosenstein, who is from Baltimore,” Trump said, according to a transcript of the interview. “There are very few Republicans in Baltimore, if any. So, he’s from Baltimore.”
According to the New York Times’ initial report about the Trump interview, Trump was “irritated” when discussing Rosenstein’s origin.
Because of Sessions’ recusal, Rosenstein was put in charge of deciding whether to oversee any federal investigations into Russian meddling, or appoint a special prosecutor. In May, he chose to appoint Robert Mueller as the special prosecutor to lead the federal Russia probe, one week after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey.
A memo in which he described problems with Comey was initially used as formal justification for Trump to fire Comey, but Rosenstein later told members of Congress that his memo was written after he learned Comey would be let go.
Rosenstein served as U.S. attorney for the District of Maryland from 2005 to 2017. He was nominated for the position by former President George W. Bush.
