Rod Rosenstein: 'honorable' US attorney poised to be next Russia investigator (Guardian)
Monday 6 March 2017 07.00 EST
Last modified on Monday 6 March 2017 12.02 EST
As a young justice department lawyer, Rod Rosenstein was tapped to join Kenneth Starr’s Whitewater investigation into Bill and Hillary Clinton’s real estate dealings. He showed an uncommon skill with public corruption cases, demonstrating a wisdom and sensitivity beyond his years, his supervisors said.
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Sessions’ recusal could immediately put Rosenstein into a much higher-profile position than he might have imagined when he was nominated to serve as deputy attorney general. If confirmed, he would oversee any justice department investigation into Russian interference in the election – including any contacts between Russia and members of the Trump campaign.
Rosenstein, who is currently the US attorney in Maryland, was a surprising choice to serve as the No 2 official in Trump’s justice department, said Philip Heymann, who was Rosenstein’s law professor at Harvard, and later his boss in the Clinton justice department. Rosenstein has served in the Department of Justice for 26 years, including in the tax division, the public integrity section, and as an assistant US attorney in Maryland.
Rosenstein is a skilled prosecutor and “a straight shooter”, with a deep knowledge of the day-to-day workings of the department, but he did not seem particularly close to either Sessions or Trump, Heymann said.
“It surprises me that they didn’t pick somebody who was more partisan,” he said.
James Cole, who served for four years as Eric Holder’s deputy attorney general, also offered unqualified praise for Rosenstein’s skill and credibility.
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In February, the Baltimore Sun, Rosenstein’s hometown paper, called him an “honorable” public servant with “wide bipartisan support” who was too good to sell his soul by taking a job in the Trump administration.
“Just don’t go there. Say ‘no’ to President Trump,” a member of the Sun’s editorial board advised Rosenstein in an open letter.
More:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/mar/06/rod-rosenstein-deputy-attorney-general-russia-jeff-sessions?utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=GU+Today+USA+-+Collections+2017&utm_term=216202&subid=20993289&CMP=GT_US_collection
= new reply since forum marked as read
I'm sure an ex-Ken Starr team member can be trusted to do the right thing and oversee a fair investigation of a Republican President's operation.
