Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein took the extraordinary step of consulting President Trump about the timing of the latest batch of criminal indictments in the special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, Bloomberg reports. Rosenstein, who is heading the investigation at the Department of Justice, allowed Trump to choose the timing of the indictments—before or after the Helsinki summit with Vladimir Putin. On Friday, Mueller issued indictments of 12 Russian intelligence officers for their role in the hack of DNC emails.

The coordination would, of course, be highly improper in most circumstances, but, according to Bloomberg, Rosenstein, citing national security considerations, decided to inform the White House of the coming indictments and allow the administration to influence the timing of their release.

The episode involved a rare move by Rosenstein, who invoked an exception on national security grounds that allowed him to brief Trump about ongoing grand jury proceedings—even though Special Counsel Robert Mueller continues to investigate whether anyone close to Trump colluded with Russia and whether the president sought to obstruct the probe. Rosenstein announced the indictments on Friday. He said then that he “briefed President Trump about these allegations earlier this week. The president is fully aware of the department’s actions.” He didn’t disclose that he’d given Trump a choice on the timing.

Trump chose to release the indictments ahead of Helsinki, which according to Bloomberg’s reporting, he hoped “would give him the upper hand.”