Rosenstein Says He May Need To Recuse Himself In Russia Probe: ABC

This morning is becoming very chaotic for Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, a man who has historically maintained a very low profile at the Department of Justice.  After issuing a rather uncharacteristic and cryptic statement last night urging Americans not to trust “anonymously-sourced” new stories (a statement that many have speculated is attributable to Wapo’s latest anonymously-sourced headline from last night) and being blasted by President Trump this morning, ABC is reporting that Rosenstein has privately acknowledged that he may need to recuse himself in Mueller’s Russia probe.

The senior Justice Department official with ultimate authority over the special counsel’s probe of Russia’s alleged meddling in the 2016 election has privately acknowledged to colleagues that he may have to recuse himself from the matter, which he took charge of only after Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ own recusal, sources tell ABC News.

Those private remarks from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein are significant because they reflect the widening nature of the federal probe, which now includes a preliminary inquiry into whether President Donald Trump attempted to obstruct justice when he allegedly tried to curtail the probe and then fired James Comey as FBI director.

Of course, the next most logical question becomes who would step in to fill Rosenstein’s shoes?  According to ABC, that obligation would fall upon Associate Attorney General Rachel Brand.

Rosenstein, who authored an extensive and publicly-released memorandum recommending Comey’s firing, raised the possibility of his recusal during a recent meeting with Associate Attorney General Rachel Brand, the Justice Department’s new third-in-command, according to sources.

In the recent meeting with Brand, Rosenstein told her that if he were to recuse himself, she would have to step in and take over those responsibilities. She was sworn-in little more than a month ago.

That is, until Rachel Brand becomes ‘conflicted’ and also has to be recused. 

In the end, we suspect liberals in Congress will not be satisfied with anyone chosen to oversee Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation until that ‘someone’ becomes Nancy Pelosi or Maxine Waters.