Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein (pictured) offered a full-throated defense of Robert Mueller and his stewardship of the probe, despite withering critiques from members of the committee. | John Shinkle/POLITICO Trump DOJ leaders won't join GOP in Mueller criticism

Three times in the last month, Republican lawmakers called on top Justice Department officials to share in their disdain for top FBI officials and Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, but President Donald Trump's appointees have so far resisted fanning the flames by disparaging the agency or the special counsel.

GOP lawmakers pounced on reports that members of Mueller's investigation team gave political donations to Democrats and, more recently, on news that a top FBI agent on his team was removed for sending anti-Trump texts. Republicans have demanded investigations into Trump's 2016 rival Hillary Clinton, how the Justice Department used a disputed dossier about possible Trump contacts with Russia, and even into Mueller's team itself.


On Wednesday, Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee pointed to news that senior FBI agent Peter Strzok and FBI lawyer Lisa Page, both of whom were at one time assigned to Mueller's group, sent private text messages calling Trump an "idiot" and showing their preference for Clinton as evidence the special counsel's team has become politicized. But deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein defended Mueller.

He said Mueller removed Strzok from the investigation as soon as he learned of the text messages. Political opinions, he noted, were permissible among FBI agents, so long as they don't affect their conduct in investigations.

POLITICO Playbook newsletter Sign up today to receive the #1-rated newsletter in politics Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

"It’s our responsibility to make sure those opinions do not influence their actions," Rosenstein said. "I believe that Director Mueller understands that and he is running that office appropriately."

Rosenstein, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and FBI Director Christopher Wray serve at the pleasure of the president, and Sessions and his deputy both were involved in firing a former FBI chief who irritated Trump with his handling of the Russia investigation. But so far they have seemed careful, in public at least, to avoid fueling Republicans' beefs with Mueller's probe — which he took over in May after James Comey's ousting at the FBI — and federal investigators.

Trump has raged in recent months at Sessions, the FBI and the Justice Department over the ongoing investigation into his associates' ties to Russia, which he's called a witch hunt. Trump also said recently that the FBI's reputation is in "tatters."

"I don’t know exactly what the president meant by that," Rosenstein said Wednesday. "The special counsel investigation is not a witch hunt."

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) told Sessions last month that it "looks like" he'd need to appoint a second special counsel to look into the FBI's investigation of Clinton's email server, which she used as secretary of state. The FBI found that she mishandled classified information but did not recommend criminal charges.

“‘Looks like’ is not enough to appoint a special counsel," Sessions shot back.

Republicans subsequently noted that Strzok was responsible for editing a statement in 2016 that recommended against criminal charges for Clinton. Strzok reportedly changed the language describing her actions from "grossly negligent" — an important legal standard — to "extremely careless."

Last week, Republicans on the committee pressed Wray about whether Strzok's work on the Clinton statement was a reflection of his bias. Wray wouldn't play along.

"Anyone with a thesaurus would say 'extremely careless' and 'gross negligence' are pretty close to each other," he said.

Under questioning from committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), Wray also pushed back on the notion that agents should be vetted for political views..

“We don’t do political scrubbing of our agents,” Wray said.

Rosenstein on Wednesday offered a full-throated defense of Mueller and his stewardship of the probe, despite withering critiques from members of the committee.

“I think it would be very difficult for anybody to find somebody better qualified than Director Mueller,” the deputy attorney general said. “I believe that based on his reputation, his service, his patriotism, his experience within the Department of Justice and the FBI, he was an ideal choice.”

As Republicans fumed, Rosenstein expressed mild concern about the texts, saying he would withhold judgment until he gets results of an inspector general review.

“I have opinions as anybody may about what it looks like," Rosenstein said. "I agree these messages raised concerns."

Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) pressed Rosenstein, asking whether Strzok might have affected aspects of the Russia investigation since last year, when the FBI opened it in July.

"How much of this investigation has been infected with his bias?" DeSantis wondered.

Rosenstein was dismissive.

"We have procedures," he said. "There's no case where any one individual would be able to make decisions."



This article tagged under: Rod Rosenstein