Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said that he believes that Barr will be "an outstanding attorney general" once he's confirmed. | Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images Legal Rosenstein: AG nominee's memo had 'no impact' on Mueller probe

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said Thursday that a memo critical of the ongoing Russia investigation written by President Donald Trump's nominee to be the next attorney general had no impact on the ongoing probe.

The memo, written last summer by attorney general nominee William Barr, was sharply critical of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into allegations of collusion between the Russian government and the 2016 Trump campaign. But Rosenstein said Barr's past memo would have no impact on Mueller's probe.


"The memo that you made reference to reflects Mr. Barr's personal opinion," Rosenstein said during a press conference on Thursday after announcing criminal charges for Chinese hackers. "Lots of people offer opinions to the Department of Justice, but they don't influence our own decision making."

Barr, who served as Attorney General under George H.W. Bush, submitted the memo on June 8 to Rosenstein and Assistant Attorney General Steve Engel, months before he was nominated to return to his former position atop the Justice Department.

According to the memo, which was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, Barr expressed concern on Muller's probe widening to include possible obstruction of justice by the president.

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"Mueller should not be permitted to demand that the President submit to interrogation about alleged obstruction," Barr wrote.

He added that such questioning "would have grave consequences far beyond the immediate confines of this case and would do lasting damage to the Presidency and to the administration of law within the Executive branch.”

Some Democrats have criticized the memo and called for the rejection of Barr's nomination to be attorney general.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said the memo reveals that Barr "is fatally conflicted from being able to oversee the Special Counsel’s investigation and he should not be nominated to be attorney general."

"Mr. Barr believes presidents in general — and more frighteningly, President Trump, who has shown less respect for the rule of law than any president — are above the law," Schumer said in a statement. "The fact that he holds these deeply misguided views and chose to launch them in an unprovoked written attack on the Special Counsel unquestionably disqualifies Mr. Barr from serving as attorney general again."

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said the memo "was not undertaken lightly" and that Congress needs "answers as to why Barr proactively drafted this memo and then shared it with the deputy attorney general and President Trump’s lawyers."

“There’s no reason for a lawyer in private practice to do this unless he was attempting to curry favor with President Trump and convey that he would protect the president," she said in a statement.

Barr's nomination comes after Trump asked Jeff Sessions to step down from his position. Sessions had recused himself from overseeing Mueller's probe, a step that the president openly and regularly expressed his frustration with.

Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker, who currently oversees the investigation, has also been criticized for past comments he's made critical of the Mueller probe. Whitaker did not recuse himself from overseeing the investigation, a decision for which he has been criticized by Mueller defenders.

The president has also been accused of appointing Whitaker to lead the Justice Department on an interim basis to restrict Mueller's investigation, a rationale that some critics of the president believe he applied again in choosing Barr to lead the department on a permanent basis.

"It’s becoming pretty clear that the President is basing his choices for leadership at the Justice Department on candidates’ criticism of the Mueller investigation," Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, wrote on Twitter.

Warner later said during an interview on CNN that be believes the Barr memo was "an attempt to solicit this position to say, 'hey Mr. Trump, don't worry I'll have your back on the Mueller investigation.'"

"It appears that the No. 1 qualification Donald Trump's looking for in an attorney general is someone that will try to undermine the Mueller investigation," Warner said, adding that he believes the memo disqualifies Barr from the position.

Trump has been open about his disdain for the investigation, referring to it often as a "witch hunt," but has said that he will allow Mueller to complete the probe.

Rosenstein said that he believes that Barr will be "an outstanding attorney general" once he's confirmed and argued that Barr's opinion was based on not having access to "actual facts of the case."

"Obviously, our decisions are informed by our knowledge of the actual facts of the case, which Mr. Barr didn't have," Rosenstein said. "I didn't share any confidential information with Mr. Barr. He never requested that we provide any non-public information to him, and that memo had no impact on our investigation."

Barr has previously asserted the need for attorney general's to have power to appoint and dismiss independent counsels.

In 1998, the former attorney general criticized a provision in the Ethics in Government Act, which expired in 1999, for creating an Office of the Special Counsel that he said was "seriously flawed" as it "unduly restricted" the attorney general "in deciding the need for independent counsel."

He concluded that a new law should be created that ensures "when the President, the Vice President or the Attorney General is involved in a criminal investigation, the Attorney General should be required under a new statute to recuse himself or herself from the case." But such a law, Barr wrote, should also allow the attorney general to "remain accountable as the responsible official, entitled to dismiss the counsel or Justice Department official for cause."

Barr has also offered more recent public commentary on the Russia investigation, dismissing concerns that the probe, then overseen by the FBI, was in jeopardy following Trump's decision to fire then-FBI director James Comey.

"According to news reports, the investigation is in full swing, with the Justice Department using a grand jury to subpoena relevant information, indicating a degree of thoroughness not evident in the investigation into Clinton's email server," Barr wrote in an op-ed in the Washington Post published in May of last year. "Comey's removal simply has no relevance to the integrity of the Russian investigation as it moves ahead."

The Deputy Attorney General, at his Thursday press conference, also offered assurances that no matter who is overseeing the investigation, it will be "handled appropriately.

"It's being handled appropriately, whether its Bob Mueller or Rod Rosenstein or Matt Whitaker or Bill Barr, that investigation is going to be handled appropriately by the Department of Justice," Rosenstein said.