The second-ranking DOJ official is facing increasing scrutiny on Capitol Hill for his role in James Comey’s dismissal. | AP Photo Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein to brief senators Thursday on Comey's firing

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein will brief all senators on Thursday on the circumstances behind former FBI Director James Comey’s abrupt firing last week, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced Monday.

The second-ranking DOJ official is facing increasing scrutiny on Capitol Hill for his role in Comey’s dismissal, which White House officials initially said was based on a three-page memo drafted by Rosenstein that laid out the rationale behind the firing.


President Donald Trump has since said he would have fired Comey regardless of Rosenstein’s recommendation. Two influential Democrats — Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois and California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee — have both said Rosenstein should resign unless he appoints a special prosecutor into the federal probe into potential collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian officials.

"I'm pleased that Majority Leader McConnell has agreed to our request to invite the Deputy Attorney General to brief the full Senate, and that Mr. Rosenstein has accepted," said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who had initially asked McConnell to invite Rosenstein for an all-senators briefing. "I hope that senators from both sides of the aisle will use this opportunity to seek the full truth regarding Director Comey’s firing, to press the Deputy Attorney General to make way for a special prosecutor, and to ensure the administration will preserve and make public any audio recordings of conversations between the President and the former director.”