Senate Dem Will Try To Block Confirmation Of Jeff Sessions’ Deputy

But as deputy attorney general, Rosenstein will be serving under Sessions - who may now be under the investigation himself.

Rosenstein’s three-hour hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee focused less on his record as a 27-year Justice Department veteran, and more on his superiors.

“It was, from the standpoint – he didn’t know what you were asking about”, replied Grassley.

In 2012, then-Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. tapped Rosenstein and Ronald Machen, the USA attorney for the District of Columbia at the time, to lead an investigation into national security leaks.

He also said former Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch did not appoint a special prosecutor amid the allegations. Rosenstein assured Blumenthal he would “make sure they’re questioned” without caring “who it is”. He said he doesn’t have all the facts. If confirmed, Rosenstein would lead any investigation into Russian Federation in place of Sessions – and into Sessions, if the scope of the review came to include the “time or two” surrogate for Trump.

He pointed out, under questioning from Sen.

Sessions’ weak explanations of why he did not mention his meetings with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak defy credibility. “He should come back and explain himself, Mr Chairman”.

‘Listen, I’ve been cutting him a lot of slack, ‘ the Democrat said.

But Sessions released a letter Monday denying that he’d misinformed Congress and the public, and insisting his statements were correct.

“I consider what Sen”. “It’s hard to come to any other conclusion than that he just perjured himself”.

Franken broke in to say, “It was not a gotcha question, sir”.

Grassley said he considered Franken’s question during the confirmation hearing to be a “gotcha” question.

He now says he should have “slowed down” and answered Franken’s question more fully.

It is time for the Senate to come together in a bi-partisan effort and get Sessions to do the right thing: resign. “I answered the question, which asked about a ‘continuing exchange of information during the campaign between Trump’s surrogates and intermediaries for the Russian government, ‘ honestly”, Sessions argues in the letter.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat from California, says she’s anxious about press reports suggesting the White House has been trying to interfere in ongoing investigations and court cases.

Rosenstein is no stranger to presidential scandals; he served as an associate independent counsel in the Whitewater investigation, probing Bill and Hillary Clinton’s real estate dealings. In addition to Sessions’ recusal last week, Trump’s first national security adviser, retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, was sacked last month for misleading Vice President Mike Flynn about his contacts with Kislyak.

Feinstein, however, said her call was not related to Rosenstein’s integrity, but the need to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest. That case led to the conviction of I. Lewis Libby, a top aide to the vice president, Dick Cheney, for making false statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.