April 26, 2019
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein shared some of his thoughts about his approach to and origins of the special counsel's investigation. At a speech at an Armenian Bar Association dinner Thursday, Rosenstein recalled that two years ago, at his confirmation hearing, a GOP senator told him he'd be charged with the Russia probe and demanded that Rosenstein promise to "do it right."
"'You're going to be in charge of this [Russia] investigation. I want you to look me in the eye and tell me that you'll do it right, that you'll take it to its conclusion and you'll report [your results] to the American people,'" he said the senator told him.
Rosenstein agreed to the first two things the senator asked, but then explained, "I did not promise to report all results to the public, because grand jury investigations are ex parte proceedings. It is not our job to render conclusive factual findings. We just decide whether it is appropriate to file criminal charges."
He said that there were "some critical decisions" about the investigation that had been made before he was on the job as deputy attorney general. The Obama administration, he said, "chose not to publicize the full story about Russian computer hackers and social media trolls, and how they relate to a broader strategy to undermine America."...
