More details of today’s closed door meeting between senators and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein are coming forward, with multiple sources indicating that the exchanges between Rosenstein and some senators being described as “passionate” and “heated” according Ed O’Keefe of The Washington Post.
Rosenstein came to Capitol Hill to discuss the firing of FBI Director James B. Comey and his decision to hire Robert Mueller as a special counsel to probe Russian meddling in last year’s elections. He briefed U.S. senators in what they call “the SCIF,” or a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility, a below-ground facility in the Capitol Visitors Center that has an area large enough to hold all 100 senators.
In that space, Rosenstein faced especially aggressive questions from Democrats about the scope of the investigation set to be led by Mueller; why Attorney General Jeff Sessions was involved in the firing of Comey; and why Sessions is helping select the new director, according to multiple people.
Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Al Franken (D-Minn.) especially grilled Rosenstein on Sessions’s role and the scope of Mueller’s new investigation, according to three senators in the room who asked for anonymity to speak frankly about the meeting. Another aide familiar with the exchange described Franken as “heated.” But one of the senators asked to recount the meeting said that Franken and Gillibrand were “passionate” – not rude.
“They weren’t inappropriate, they were asking strong questions that were strongly felt. I didn’t think anybody was inappropriate,” the senator said.
Excuse me, but why was/is Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III involved in either the firing of James Comey or even the hiring of a new FBI Director?
What exactly is Sessions recused from regarding any and all aspect of the TrumpRussia investigation?
Given that Mr. Sessions lied under oath about his own contacts with Russian diplomats to simply become the U.S. Attorney General, why is he involved in ANY decisions directly or even tangentially related to the FBI’s investigation (and those areas would seem to include both the firing of former FBI Director Comey and the hiring of Comey’s replacement)?
Additionally, some Senators also expressed concern that Mr. Rosenstein’s appointment of Robert Mueller as Special Counsel may make it more difficult for the Senate Intelligence Committee to continue its investigation into the TrumpRussia scandal.
Rosenstein gave “unequivocal”assurances to the senators that the SIC’s own investigations of the TrumpRussia scandal could continue, according to sources.
