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Rosenstein Does Not Have to Recuse Himself

Author Ken Gude explains why Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein does not need to recuse himself in the investigation of possible collusion between the Trump administration and Russia.

Contrary to growing speculation, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein does not need to recuse himself in the special counsel investigation of the Trump administration and Russia’s potential collusion during the 2016 presidential election. The question has arisen because Rosenstein is a potential witness to actions by President Donald Trump in firing FBI Director James Comey, which may become part of an obstruction of justice investigation by the special counsel.

According to media reports, special counsel Bob Mueller is now investigating whether President Trump attempted to obstruct the criminal investigation of his former National Security Advisor Mike Flynn. One aspect of Mueller’s probe could be the question of whether Trump fired former FBI Director Comey as part of Trump’s effort to obstruct that investigation. Given Rosenstein prepared a memo that the Trump administration initially pointed to as the rationale for Comey’s firing, Rosenstein may possess information relevant to that portion of the inquiry, if Mueller needs it.

The above excerpt was originally published in Medium. Click here to view the full article.

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Authors

Ken Gude

Senior Fellow