Lost in all the hoopla about whether or not President Trump will sit down for an interview with special counsel Robert Mueller is an underlying issue that is now bubbling to the surface. Someone at the Justice Department, who is tasked with overseeing the Russia probe, is asleep at the wheel.
In latest for National Review, former Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew C. McCarthy says the fact that Deputy Attorney Rod Rosenstein hasn’t stepped in to demand Mueller provide evidence of collusion to justify a Trump sit-down shows he is “shirking his duty to supervise” the probe.
McCarthy writes:
The answer to the “What’s to stop Mueller?” question should be obvious. It is the Justice Department. Alas, the answer eludes us because Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has been AWOL for seven months. We seem to have forgotten that Mueller answers to Rosenstein — and Rosenstein seems only too happy to have us forget. […]
If the Justice Department has good-faith grounds on which to believe the president is complicit in a serious crime, the president should be investigated; if not, the president should not be investigated. If there is reason to believe the president has evidence that is essential to proving a crime in which he is complicit, and that the evidence cannot be obtained from any other source, then the prosecutor should subpoena him. If not, then the prosecutor has no business bothering the president, because the president’s responsibilities are far more critical to the nation than the prosecutor’s. […] If Special Counsel Mueller wants to interview the president, he should first be required to demonstrate that there is strong evidence the president has committed a crime, and that the president has essential evidence of the crime that cannot be obtained from any other source. It is Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein’s job to force Mueller to make that showing. […]
If the Justice Department will not supervise its prosecutors, then presidents, former presidents, other high public officials, journalists, defense lawyers, and all sorts of interesting people who might have relevant information — but who are protected from harassment by over-aggressive prosecutors thanks to prudent Justice Department leadership and policy — should plan on spending lots of time in the grand jury.
Not only is Rosenstein allowing the Russia investigation to run wild, but he has a whole other set of challenges on the horizon.
The FISA memo.
Last week, the Daily Beast reported former FBI Director James Comey, bureau Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein are officially named in the “shocking” FISA abuse memo.
In what was the second major “leak,” to come from the FISA abuse memo, a new report reveals Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein signed off on an application to extend surveillance of Trump campaign official Carter Page.
Rosenstein assumed office on April 26th, 2017, approving the spy warrant merely three months after Trump was inaugurated on January 20th, 2017.
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) has said Rosenstein and demoted Justice Department official, Bruce Ohr, will be immediately fired after the memo is released.
As The Gateway Pundit‘s Cristina Laila reported, President Trump’s legal team is seeking to avoid a sit-down interview with Robert Mueller and may request a written affidavit instead, declaring he did not collude with the Russians during the 2016 election.
According to the report, Justice Department veterans doubt Mueller will accept a written response or an affidavit in lieu of a sit-down interview with Trump.
Many in Trump’s orbit, from former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie to Fox News host Laura Ingraham are imploring Trump not to meet with Mueller. The reason? It’s a perjury trap, they say.
Asked if he would sit down with Mueller, President Trump told the press not only would he be glad to, but would do “under oath.”
Of course, Trump’s comments came before a New York Times piece claiming he wanted to fire Mueller in June. When asked about the report in Davos, Trump replied, “Fake news, folks. Fake news. Typical New York Times fake story.”
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