Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., called for Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to resign unless he appoints a special prosecutor to investigate ties between President Trump’s campaign and Russia.
The second-ranking Senate Democrat also claimed that Trump is “dangerously close” to committing obstruction of justice after he mentioned the Russia probe in connection with his decision to fire former FBI Director James Comey while being interviewed by NBC News’ Lester Holt Thursday. Durbin also argued that Trump’s Friday morning tweets were threatening.
“In an interview with NBC News, President Trump admitted to firing FBI Director James Comey because of his investigation of the Trump campaign’s Russian connections — that is dangerously close to obstruction of justice,” Durbin said in a statement. “This morning, the President tweeted a thinly veiled threat to Mr. Comey, which could be construed as threatening a witness in this investigation, which is another violation of federal law.”
“To preserve his reputation as a credible prosecutor, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein must appoint an independent special prosecutor to pursue possible criminal charges, or he must resign,” Durbin said.
Rosenstein, along with Attorney General Jeff Sessions, recommended to Trump that Comey should be dismissed, although the president told Holt that he had already made up his mind.
According to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Rosenstein is slated to meet privately with the entire Senate to answer questions about Comey’s dismissal.
