Blumenthal Threatens To Block Deputy Attorney General

Rosenstein refused, when pressed, to commit himself to appointing a special counsel who would be outside the authority of the department. Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, Rosenstein told the committee that he has had no conversations with Attorney General Jeff Sessions about Russian contacts with the Trump campaign. Slate’s Leon Neyfakh suggested this would amount to at least one key departmental boss “in the house of Sessions” who might be more “willing to investigate police misconduct” than Sessions himself. In several hearings last Spring, then-Senator Sessions pleaded with government to get across to the public that “good people don’t smoke marijuana”. “Nobody should be prejudging as to if there should or shouldn’t be a special prosecutor”, Beth Levine, a spokeswoman for Senator Chuck Grassley, said in a statement. “They will be free to follow the investigation where it leads and will be subject to an increased level of congressional oversight”, Schumer said.

She mentioned the intelligence community’s conclusion that Russian Federation conducted an influence campaign during the presidential election.

“If there was predication to believe that such communication was in violation of federal law, I would ensure an appropriate investigation”, Rosenstein said. In 1973, Attorney General nominee Elliot Richardson agreed to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the Watergate scandal as a condition to his confirmation.

“He’s not a partisan guy”, Baltimore police Commissioner Kevin Davis said of Rosenstein.

“A special prosecutor is absolutely necessary”. Two years later, Bush nominated him to serve on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, but Maryland’s two Democratic senators blocked his confirmation, though they praised his work as a prosecutor.

Republicans pushed back on the Democrats’ demands. “This is a partisan minefield no matter what he decides, but partisanship won’t be part of the equation for him”. Grassley also accused Democrats of being hypocrisy.

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey likewise said she was considering all legal options in response to the ban, which she called misguided and described as “a clear attempt to resurrect a discredited order and fulfill a discriminatory and unconstitutional campaign promise”. Gen. Loretta Lynch and acting Deputy Atty.

The senator also wanted assurance that Rosenstein would not discuss the Russian Federation investigation with Sessions.

But while the president does not seem overly concerned about Russia’s involvement in the presidential election, there are Republicans in Congress who are deeply disturbed by the attack on the very foundation of American democracy.

A page on the committee’s website that is dedicated to Rosenstein’s nomination includes 33 letters from supporters, including former Solicitor General Theodore Olson and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

Rosenstein is not expected to necessarily fall in line with a Trump administration that has committed to stand up against a “dangerous anti-police atmosphere”.