Jeff
Sessions.
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US Attorney General Jeff Sessions had glowing words for
his deputy, Rod Rosenstein, hours before the Devin Nunes memo
was released on Friday.
At a Justice Department event, Sessions said Rosenstein
and Rosenstein's deputy, Rachel Brand, represent "the kind of
quality and leadership that we want in the
department."
Sessions' praise for Rosenstein and Brand caught some
attention in part because the Nunes memo attempts to implicate
Rosenstein, among others, in accusations of improper
surveillance at the FBI and the DOJ.
The attorney general's comments gained further
significance after the memo came out, when Trump said "you
figure that one out" in response to questions about whether he
would seek to fire Rosenstein,
Attorney General Jeff Sessions praised his second-in-command, Rod
Rosenstein, hours before
the disputed Devin Nunes memo came out on Friday.
Sessions was preparing to speak at a Justice Department event
when
he paused to applaud Rosenstein and associate attorney
general Rachel Brand after she had introduced Sessions to the
audience.
"Thank you, Rachel, for your kind words and, more importantly,
for your strong leadership as our third in command at the
department," Sessions said.
"Rod and Rachel are Harvard graduates, they are experienced
lawyers. Rod's had 27 years in the department, Rachel's had a
number of years in the department previously, so they both
represent the kind of quality and leadership we want in the
department," Sessions continued.
Watch Sessions speak below:
Interesting. Hours before the Nunes memo was released (which Trump has reportedly considered using to fire Rod Rosenstein), Jeff Sessions praised Rosenstein and Rachel Brand, saying "they both represent the kind of quality and leadership that we want in the Department." pic.twitter.com/O9B3YfqqR2
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) February 2, 2018
His remarks preceded the release of the memo alleging in part
that Rosenstein improperly extended surveillance of the Trump
campaign adviser Carter Page during the 2016 election.
Rosenstein is one of several law-enforcement officials who signed
off on surveillance of Page as part of the investigation of
Russian interference in the 2016 US election. Page had been a
concern for US counterintelligence officials since 2013.
Rosenstein in May 2017 appointed special counsel Robert Mueller
to oversee the Russia investigation and he has since been the
target of some of President Donald Trump's harshest public
criticism. Those criticisms have prompted speculation that Trump
was looking for reasons to fire Rosenstein.
When reporters asked Trump on Friday whether he would move to
dismiss Rosenstein,
Trump said "You figure that one out."
The memo, written by House Intelligence Committee chairman Devin
Nunes and other top Republican lawmakers, accuses some officials
at the FBI and the DOJ of acting on what it calls political bias
against Trump.
Current and former officials at the agencies and some Democratic
lawmakers have criticized the memo, calling it an attempt to
discredit top law-enforcement institutions in the interest of
protecting Trump.
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