Rod Rosenstein Doubles Down On Support For The Mueller Investigation, Says It’s ‘Appropriate and Independent’

During an interview with the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein doubled down on his support for the Robert Mueller-led investigation into ties between Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russia, despite insistence by President Trump that the investigation is “rigged” or a “witch hunt.”

Rosenstein did the interview just weeks after rumors swirled that made it seem imminent that he would soon be relieved of his duties as Deputy Attorney General, as reported by the Inquisitr.

In the end, Rosenstein kept his job but still had to face pressure from the President about the ongoing investigation.

Rosenstein found himself in control of the investigation after Attorney General Jeff Sessions was forced to recuse himself after failing to disclose meetings with Russian foreign officials.

Things started heating up for Rosenstein after a New York Times report that he allegedly attempted to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove the president from office after then-FBI director James Comey was fired on May 9, 2017.

Rosenstein was quick to refute the NYT report, calling the details of the story “inaccurate and factually incorrect.”

The President later told reporters that he “much preferred to keep” the deputy attorney general on board, as reported by the Inquisitr, and that the pair “get along very well.”

In rare interview, U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein defends Special Counsel Robert Mueller's inquiry into Russian election interference as appropriate and independent. https://t.co/sQuBXsgUw1 – @WSJ

— Breaking News (@BreakingNews) October 17, 2018

Rosenstein told the WSJ, “I committed I would ensure the investigation was appropriate and independent and reached the right result, whatever it may be. I believe I have been faithful to that.”

Rosenstein even addressed the frustrations from the President and other GOP lawmakers who have repeatedly pushed and urged for the investigation to be wrapped up.

“People are entitled to be frustrated, I can accept that,” Rosenstein told the Journal. “But at the end of the day, the public will have confidence that the cases we brought were warranted by the evidence and that it was an appropriate use of resources.”

“I have a solemn responsibility to make sure that cases like that are pursued and prosecuted, and I’m pleased the president has been supportive of that,” he added.

Rosenstein tried really hard to avoid talking about the period of time when reports indicated that he was likely to be fired, saying he assured the President he was happy to stay in the role.

“The president knows that I am prepared to do this job as long as he wants me to do this job,” he said. “You serve at the pleasure of the president, and there’s never been any ambiguity about that in my mind.”