Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein delivered a blockbuster hot mess of a speech Thursday night in his first public remarks since the Mueller report was released, but he did make one notable comment suggesting the American public still has no idea of the extent of Russian interference in 2016.
“The bottom line is, there was overwhelming evidence that Russian operatives hacked American computers and defrauded American citizens, and that is only the tip of the iceberg of a comprehensive Russian strategy to influence elections, promote social discord, and undermine America, just like they do in many other countries,” Rosenstein told attendees at the Public Servants Dinner of the Armenian Bar Association.
Rosenstein said that the Russian transgressions outlined in the Mueller report captured only a small slice of the Russian scheme. Frankly, it's kind of a scary revelation given that Donald Trump won't even admit the Russian attack let alone allow anyone to discuss it or securing the 2020 elections in his presence.
Other than that, Rosenstein had a lot of steam to blow off. He blamed the Obama administration, which outed the Russian scheme, for failing to stop it. He said nice things about Trump—a man he and Attorney General William Barr went out of their way to exonerate despite the airtight obstruction case Mueller detailed in his report. “The rule of law is our most important principle,” Rosenstein said. “As President Trump pointed out, ‘We govern ourselves in accordance with the rule of law rather [than] … the whims of an elite few or the dictates of collective will.’ ”
He skewered the media. “Some of the nonsense that passes for breaking news today would not be worth the paper it was printed on, if anybody bothered to print it,” he said. “One silly question that I get from reporters is, ‘Is it true that you got angry and emotional a few times over the past few years?’ Heck yes! Didn’t you?”
He defended his Jedi-like blank stare during a press conference last week in which Attorney General Barr lied to the American people once again about the contents of Mueller report. “Last week, the big topic of discussion was: ‘What were you thinking when you stood behind Bill Barr at that press conference, with a deadpan expression?’ The answer is: I was thinking, “My job is to stand here with a deadpan expression.’ ... Imagine the reaction and the commentary if I had smiled or grimaced. ”
Or what if he had simply declined to lend his name to Barr's effort to clear Trump of wrongdoing over a firing in which Rosenstein played a role in the original cover up? Imagine that.
