Sens. Al Franken Alan (Al) Stuart FrankenPeterson faces fight of his career in deep-red Minnesota district Getting tight — the psychology of cancel culture Tina Smith wins Democratic Senate primary in Minnesota MORE (D-Minn.) and Kirsten Gillibrand Kirsten GillibrandSuburban moms are going to decide the 2020 election Jon Stewart urges Congress to help veterans exposed to burn pits The Hill's Campaign Report: 19 years since 9/11 | Dem rival to Marjorie Taylor Greene drops out | Collin Peterson faces fight of his career | Court delivers blow to ex-felon voting rights in Florida MORE (D-N.Y.) grilled Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein over FBI Director James Comey's firing and the Russia investigation during a closed-door briefing Thursday, The Washington Post reported.

The pair questioned Rosenstein on Attorney General Jeff Sessions Jefferson (Jeff) Beauregard SessionsTrump's policies on refugees are as simple as ABCs Ocasio-Cortez, Velázquez call for convention to decide Puerto Rico status White House officials voted by show of hands on 2018 family separations: report MORE’s involvement in Comey’s firing last week and on the scope of the federal investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

Franken’s spokesman told the Post he “was passionate about getting to the bottom of what happened.”

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“They weren’t inappropriate, they were asking strong questions that were strongly felt,” a senator told the Post, characterizing the two as “passionate.”

“I didn’t think anybody was inappropriate.”

Rosenstein was also pressed on Sessions’s role in selecting a new FBI director, and on how former FBI Director Robert Mueller’s appointment as special counsel will affect the Russia investigation.

The deputy attorney general’s hotly anticipated meeting with senators came less than 24 hours after he appointed Mueller.

Rosenstein reportedly confirmed that the FBI’s probe of Russian meddling in the 2016 race is now both a criminal and counterintelligence investigation.

Lawmakers present also confirmed that Rosenstein said he was aware President Trump intended to fire Comey before he penned a memo that the White House later used to justify the move.

Comey’s ouster came amid the FBI’s probe into Russian election intrusions last year, including possible ties between Russia and Trump’s campaign.