According to Politico, Deputy Attorney General, Rod Rosenstein says he would ignore calls to fire Mueller unless he considered them “lawful and appropriate.”
During a Senate hearing, Rosenstein said: “I’m not going to follow any orders unless I believe they are lawful” in reference to speculations that President Donald Trump has been considering terminating Robert Mueller in order to stop the investigation. He said Trump hadn’t asked questions about the special counsel, but unless there were “good cause” to fire Mueller, Rosenstein said, “it wouldn’t matter what anybody said.”
Rosenstein added, “Director Mueller is going to have the full degree of independence he needs to conduct the investigation appropriately,” adding that he hadn’t communicated with Mueller since he was appointed as special counsel role.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions who recused himself from participating in the Russia probe, and as a result, Rosenstein is now the highest-ranking official at the Justice Department overseeing Mueller’s Russia probe. Rosenstein said there was no detailed document under questioning from Sen. Brian Schatz, describing Sessions’ recusal beyond a broad statement that he would not be involved in matters arising from the 2016 election, according to reports.
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Schatz asked, “Is there such a document?”
“No, because it’s not necessary, the department is a hierarchy and so nothing gets to the attorney general about matters he’s recused from unless they come through my office,” Rosenstein said.
“What if they come through the Oval Office?” Schatz followed up.
Rosenstein replied “We’re not briefing the Oval Office, so I don’t know how they would get there”.
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