Rod Rosenstein says the "president’s words about the rule of law are backed by concrete action.” | Carlos Osorio/AP Photo Top Justice official says Trump respects 'the rule of law'

Despite President Donald Trump’s repeated attacks on the media, his calls to prosecute his political opponents and his firing of the FBI director at least in part for an investigation into Trump’s own campaign, a top Justice Department official insisted Wednesday that there was evidence that the president is committed to the rule of law and the First Amendment.

In a speech to an audience of judges and attorneys in Washington, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said Trump’s nominations of distinguished lawyers to top Justice Department posts demonstrated his fidelity to “American values.”


“When President Trump spoke last summer about American values, he said, and I quote, ‘We treasure the rule of law and protect the right to free speech and free expression,’” Rosenstein said, quoting a speech Trump gave in July in Warsaw. “The president’s words about the rule of law are backed by concrete action.”

The No. 2 Justice Department official said Trump’s picks for attorney general, associate attorney general, solicitor general and FBI director underscored the president’s dedication to those longstanding principles.

“When you appoint principled lawyers like Jeff Sessions, Rachel Brand, Noel Francisco and Chris Wray to leadership positions in the Department of Justice, that demonstrates respect for the rule of law,” Rosenstein argued.

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Rosenstein spoke in a courtroom four floors above the one where former Trump campaign officials Paul Manafort and Rick Gates were arraigned Monday in the first known indictment stemming from Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in last year’s election.

Rosenstein named Mueller to the special counsel post in May, pushing Trump into a fury, according to the president’s advisers.

Trump responded to the charges against Manafort and Gates by dismissing their alleged crimes as predating his campaign. The president also dismissed a guilty plea of another campaign adviser, George Papadopoulos, by describing him as “low-level” and an admitted liar.

In recent days, Trump has also urgently and repeatedly called on prosecutors to investigate Democrats and his rival for the White House last year, Hillary Clinton.

“There is so much GUILT by Democrats/Clinton, and now the facts are pouring out. DO SOMETHING!” he implored on Twitter Sunday.

Senior U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth warned attendees at Rosenstein’s speech that while the veteran Justice official would take questions, he would not address the investigation into Russian meddling.

“He will not answer questions about Russia,” Lamberth said. “Please don’t ask him anything about Russia. It’s not a good topic for tonight.”

During his 20-minute address as part of an annual lecture series named for late U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Flannery, Rosenstein echoed other recent speeches in which he extolled the duties of prosecutors to carry out their duties without fear or favor.

“The ability to choose which cases to investigate and prosecute is an extraordinary power,” the deputy attorney general said. “The people tasked with enforcing the law must do it impartially. … We must defend the rule of law regardless of the impact.”

Rosenstein exhibited his usual cheery demeanor and delivered some perennial quips about the low-profile job he signed up for turning out to be not quite so obscure.

However, he did indicate that he has chafed in recent months at some inaccurate reporting about himself, which he did not detail.

“We have to play by the rules even if our critics do not,” Rosenstein said.

While he did not make direct reference to the high-profile controversies he has found himself immersed in since taking his job in April, the veteran prosecutor did repeat some of the points he made in a letter he wrote criticizing FBI Director James Comey for excoriating Hillary Clinton publicly even as he announced that the FBI was recommending no charges against her for use of a private email account that authorities concluded contained classified information.

“It is important for us not to make public comments about our investigations,” Rosenstein said, noting that when prosecutors make claims in the courtroom in criminal cases, they’re presumed not to be true because of the presumption of innocence defendants enjoy.

During the question-and-answer period, Rosenstein was asked about the intense political rhetoric surrounding the Justice Department and how it has affected his job.

“People say all sorts of things, pro and con, but the issue is how I’m running the Department of Justice,” he said. “I’m running the Department of Justice on behalf of the attorney general and many other superb professionals we have in the department; we’re running it the right way. And those are the instructions that we’re following.”

Rosenstein’s speech has been advertised for weeks on large signs in the federal courthouse and drew a crowd that spilled into an adjoining courtroom. The event was open to the public, but it was not on the daily schedule distributed to reporters Wednesday that lists public appearances by senior Justice Department officials.

