Rod Rosenstein Image by Win McNamee/Getty Images

By Ari Feldman May 2, 2018

Alan Dershowitz speculated on CNN Tuesday that Rod Rosenstein, the embattled Deputy Attorney General of the Department of Justice, could recuse himself from the Russia investigation, the Washington Examiner reported. Dershowitz suggested that the case for Rosenstein’s recusal after the publication of 49 questions Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller wants to ask Donald Trump as part of his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 elections.

Dershowitz spoke with Anderson Cooper about the investigation before sparring with his former law student, the New Yorker writer Jeffrey Toobin. Dershowitz suggested that the nature of the questions — particularly those about the firing of former FBI director James Comey — might mean that Rosenstein could get pulled into the case not as a lawyer but as a witness.

“If there are charges, if there is an impeachment, if there are any kind of legal proceedings relating to why the president fired Comey, the first witness has to be the man who wrote the memo justifying the firing,” Dershowitz said. Rosenstein wrote a memo justifying Trump’s decision to fire Comey.

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Later, Dershowitz and Toobin argued about how Mueller might get Trump to answer the questions — something Trump wants to do, but his legal team is wary to let him do it. Dershowitz suggested that if Trump took the fifth, Mueller might offer him immunity in the investigation.

“He’s never going to give the president immunity,” Toobin replied with clear frustration. “Oh my God.”

Contact Ari Feldman at feldman@forward.com or on Twitter @aefeldman

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