Rod Rosenstein Almost Quit Over Comey Firing

Rod Rosenstein Image by Getty Images

By Daniel J. Solomon May 11, 2017

After a memo written by him was invoked as the reason for FBI Director James Comey’s abrupt ouster, deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein was apparently so incensed that he threatened to resign.

An administration told the Washington Post Rosenstein was upset that the White House said it was firing Comey due to his memo faulting Comey’s leadership but not explicitly calling for the sacking.

According to the source, it was the other way around – with President Trump deciding to fire Comey and then asking Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Rosenstein to draft a rationale for doing so.

Rosenstein is a career public servant, who has now served in three successive administrations, both Republican and Democrat.

Before his appointment as deputy attorney general, he worked for the Bush and Obama administrations as the United States attorney for Maryland.

Before his firing, Comey is said to have asked Rosenstein for more funding so the FBI could pursue its investigation of ties between the Trump campaign and Russia.

The White House has denied both this claim and the resignation threat rumor.

Contact Daniel J. Solomon at solomon@forward.com or on Twitter @DanielJSolomon

Daniel J. Solomon is the former Assistant to the Editor/News Writer at the Forward. Originally from Queens, he attended Harvard as an undergraduate, where he wrote his senior thesis on French-Jewish intellectual history. He is excited to have returned to New York after his time in Massachusetts. Daniel’s passions include folk music, cycling, and pointed argument.

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