Franklin, Andrews, Kramer & Edelstein

[scion]

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein says only he has the power to fire special counsel on Russia

By Sari Horwitz and Matt Zapotosky June 13 at 11:00 AM
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/jeff-sessions-set-to-testify-this-afternoon-before-senate-intelligence-committee/2017/06/13/ac5321bc-4fc6-11e7-91eb-9611861a988f_story.html?utm_term=.ae07436798dd

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein testified Tuesday that if the president ordered him to fire the special counsel handling the Russia investigation, he would only comply if the request was “lawful and appropriate.”

Rosenstein was answering questions from lawmakers regarding comments Monday from Christopher Ruddy, the chief executive of Newsmax Media and a friend of Donald Trump, that Trump might fire Robert S. Mueller III, who was recently appointed to lead the investigation into whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election.

Rosenstein said only he could fire Mueller, who he described as operating independently from the Justice Department in his investigation.

“I am confident that he has full independence,” Rosenstein said in answer to a question from Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.)

Asked what he would do if the president ordered him to fire Mueller, he said, “I’m not going to follow any orders unless I believe those are lawful and appropriate orders.”
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/jeff-sessions-set-to-testify-this-afternoon-before-senate-intelligence-committee/2017/06/13/ac5321bc-4fc6-11e7-91eb-9611861a988f_story.html?utm_term=.ae07436798dd