DOJ’s Number 3 Official Quitting After Just Nine Months

Update: U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT NO. 3 OFFICIAL RACHEL BRAND TO BECOME EXECUTIVE AT WAL-MART: SOURCE

… where Hillary Clinton was on the board of directors.

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The number 3 official at the Department of Justice plans to leave the agency after just nine months on the job, the NYT reported citing two people briefed on her decision. 

Rachel L. Brand was appointed as Associate Attorney General on May 22, 2017, making her next in the line of succession after Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein, who is currently overseeing Robert Mueller’s special counsel probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has recused himself from the investigation due to his involvement with the Trump campaign. 

Prior to her appointment to the DOJ last year, Brand held several politically appointed positions for the last few administrations. From 2012-2017, she served as one of five Senate-confirmed Members of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, appointed by President Obama.

Before that, Brand worked at the DOJ between 2003-2007, first as the Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Policy, and then as the Senate-confirmed Assistant Attorney General for Legal Policy, appointed by President George W. Bush.

Brand is also an Associate Professor of law at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School. She clerked for Associate Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy from 2002-2003 after graduating from Harvard Law – where she was deputy editor-in-chief of the Harvard Jourrnal of Law and Public Policy.

According to OpenSecrets.org, Brand has contributed heavily to Republicans – including George W. Bush, John McCain, Ted Cruz, Tom Cotton and Ed Gillespie. 

What about Rosenstein?

The release of the declassified GOP-authored “Nunes memo” earlier this month revealed that Rosenstein signed off on at least one questionable FISA surveillance warrant application in connection with spying on the Trump campaign.

Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), thinks Rosenstein will likely have to appear before Congress to explain his actions:

I think Rosenstein is going to have to come to the Congress and explain his role in extending it, Mr. DeSantis said on Fox News. I mean, did he go back and review it and was satisfied, or he just extended? And is he going to be able to justify this as a proper use of FISA?

When a reporter asked President Trump whether the Nunes memo makes it more likely that he will fire Rosenstein, Trump responded: “You figure it out.”

When asked if the memo makes it more likely he will fire Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, Trump responds: “You figure that one out.” pic.twitter.com/8eyAtm8uKF

BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) February 2, 2018

Democrats responded to the Nunes memo with a threat to unleash holy hell if Trump fires the Deputy AG:

“We are alarmed by reports that you may intend to use this misleading document as a pretext to fire Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, in an effort to corruptly influence or impede Special Counsel Bob Mueller’s investigation.

“We write to inform you that we would consider such an unwarranted action as an attempt to obstruct justice in the Russia investigation. Firing Rod Rosenstein, DOJ Leadership, or Bob Mueller could result in a constitutional crisis of the kind not seen since the Saturday Night Massacre!’

So with a “compromised” Rosenstein overseeing the Mueller / Russia probe, and his successor apparently heading for the hills, one has to wonder what’s actually going on behind the scenes at the DOJ.