Top Justice Department official rejects GOP protests over Russia investigation
WASHINGTON — Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein adamantly defended the character and impartiality of Robert Mueller, the special counsel, as he came head to head Wednesday with an increasingly aggressive campaign by Republicans to discredit the inquiry.
The Republicans’ effort received a fresh jolt from the release one night earlier of text messages exchanged last year between an FBI agent, Peter Strzok, and an FBI lawyer, Lisa Page, describing the possibility of an election victory by President Donald Trump as “terrifying” and saying Hillary Clinton “just has to win.”
Mueller removed Strzok from the Russia investigation as soon as he learned of the texts, a step Rosenstein praised.
Nonetheless, Republicans used the messages as fodder to attack the impartiality of Mueller during an appearance by Rosenstein before the House Judiciary Committee.
“The public trust in this whole thing is gone,” said Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, summing up sentiments among his party. “It seems to me there are two things you can do: You can disband the Mueller special prosecutor, and you can do what we’ve all called for and appoint a second special counsel to look into this.”
But the swelling campaign to undermine Mueller’s investigation, which has dominated conservative media for days, appeared to have little effect on Rosenstein, who oversees Mueller. Rosenstein said he would only fire Mueller if he had cause under Justice Department regulations — and he said nothing that has happened met that standard.
Mueller’s conduct
Instead, Rosenstein mounted a step-by-step defense of Mueller’s conduct. He noted that department rules prevented Mueller from taking political affiliation into consideration when hiring for career positions, and he distinguished between officials holding political views and making investigative decisions out of bias. He said Mueller would be careful not to allow the latter.
“We recognize we have employees with political opinions. And it’s our responsibility to make sure those opinions do not influence their actions,” Rosenstein said after Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Ohio, read the names of members of Mueller’s team and political contributions they had made to Democratic causes. “I believe that Director Mueller understands that, and he is running that office appropriately.”
Rosenstein’s stance signaled that despite the mounting assault on Mueller by Trump’s supporters, the fundamental dynamic surrounding the special counsel had not changed: If Trump were to try to fire Mueller based on any developments so far, the president would likely first have to fire or force the resignation of Rosenstein and then hunt for a replacement willing to carry out his orders, echoing Richard Nixon’s so-called Saturday Night Massacre during the Watergate scandal.
Republicans repeatedly pressed Rosenstein to appoint a second special counsel to investigate political partisanship in the Justice Department in its handling of the Trump-Russia investigation or in last year’s decision not to charge Clinton with a crime over her use of a private email server while secretary of state.
Democrats see pattern
Rosenstein said he could not appoint another special counsel without a credible allegation of a potential crime to investigate.
Democrats say the pattern is becoming clear: As Mueller moves closer to Trump’s inner circle, Republicans try to discredit federal law enforcement and undercut the eventual findings of the special counsel.
The Republican effort might also be intended to blunt the political repercussions should Mueller be fired, Democrats say.
Rep. Jerrold Nadler, the Judiciary Committee’s senior Democrat, called the new Republican demands “wildly dangerous” to U.S. institutions.
“I understand the instinct to want to give cover to the president,” he said. “I am fearful that the majority’s effort to turn the tables on the special counsel will get louder and more frantic as the walls continue to close in around the president.”