Rod Rosenstein defends Comey memo: "I stand by it"

[brooklynite]

Source: Axios

The quote you'll want from Rod Rosenstein's remarks to the House and Senate on his memo:

"My memorandum is not a legal brief; these are not issues of law. My memorandum is not a finding of official misconduct; the Inspector General will render his judgment about that issue in due course. My memorandum is not a statement of reasons to justify a for-cause termination. My memorandum is not a survey of FBI morale or performance. My memorandum is not a press release. It is a candid internal memorandum about the FBI Director's public statements concerning a high-profile criminal investigation. I sent my signed memorandum to the Attorney General after noon on Tuesday, May 9. I wrote it. I believe it. I stand by it."

Read more: https://www.axios.com/rod-rosenstein-defends-comey-memo-i-stand-by-it-2414326302.html

[grantcart]

1. Reading the entire remarks gives a broader context.

I thought the July 5 press conference was profoundly wrong and unfair both to the Department of Justice and Secretary Clinton. It explicitly usurped the role of the Attorney General, the Deputy Attorney General and the entire Department of Justice; it violated deeply engrained rules and traditions; and it guaranteed that some people would accuse the FBI of interfering in the election.There are lawful and appropriate mechanisms to deal with unusual circumstances in which public confidence in the rule of law may be jeopardized. Such mechanisms preserve the traditional balance of power between investigators and prosecutors, and protect the rights of citizens.

Director Comey attended the Maryland U.S. Attorney's Office training seminar on October 27, 2016, and gave a detailed explanation of his reasons for making public statements about the conclusion of the Secretary Clinton email investigation. I strongly disagreed with his analysis, but I believe that he made his decisions in good faith.

On May 8, I learned that President Trump intended to remove Director Comey and sought my advice and input. Notwithstanding my personal affection for Director Comey, I thought it was appropriate to seek a new leader.

I wrote a brief memorandum to the Attorney General summarizing my longstanding concerns about Director Comey's public statements concerning the Secretary Clinton email investigation. I chose the issues to include in my memorandum. Before finalizing the memorandum on May 9, I asked a senior career attorney on my staff to review it. That attorney is an ethics expert who has worked in the Office of the Deputy Attorney General during multiple administrations. He was familiar with the issues. I informed the senior attorney that the President was going to remove Director Comey, that I was writing a memorandum to the Attorney General summarizing my own concerns, and that I wanted to confirm that everything in my memorandum was accurate. He concurred with the points raised in my memorandum. I also asked several other career Department attorneys to review the memorandum and provide edits.

[yallerdawg]

7. Not one word from Rosenstein is false!

Next:

"My memorandum is not a legal brief; these are not issues of law. My memorandum is not a finding of official misconduct; the Inspector General will render his judgment about that issue in due course. My memorandum is not a statement of reasons to justify a for-cause termination. My memorandum is not a survey of FBI morale or performance. My memorandum is not a press release. It is a candid internal memorandum about the FBI Director's public statements concerning a high-profile criminal investigation. I sent my signed memorandum to the Attorney General after noon on Tuesday, May 9.

I wrote it. I believe it. I stand by it."

And this precipitated a great service to our country!

[thesquanderer]

2. And in fact, many Dems would probably agree with everything he wrote.

The issue isn't with what he wrote, it's that Trump tried to use it to justify something he wanted to do anyway, for other reasons entirely.

[StevieM]

5. Well said. I actually think he took it easy on Comey.

Comey repeatedly made decisions that were damaging to Clinton and inconsistent with traditional DOJ standards.

And calling the email matter a "criminal investigation" is a loaded term. This guy wasn't going overboard to be fair to HRC, but the evidence indicting Comey's actions was indisputable.

[DallasNE]

12. I Was Unimpressed

I thought it was a word salad. Only once did he say what his disagreement with Comey was over. Broadly, he said Comey usurped the powers of the AG and didn't follow the established protocol. But where was he last year when all of this happened? Why would you leave someone in office for 10 more months and only then rush to fire him. It couldn't be for those long ago events. I don't think there is any doubt but what Comey erred both last July and October 28th - especially on October 28th where he misrepresented what the FBI discovered on Weiner's computer. They did not find "new email", they found a back-up file of old email. The only thing that could be on that file that they didn't already have would be email Clinton deleted between the time the back-up file was created and when Clinton turned over her server to the FBI. One of those "new emails" they found, that was deleted by Clinton, was of the two women discussing what they were going to wear to a function that night. There are no hero's in this episode. Indeed, why not wait to hear what the Inspector General would have to say and make the decision at that time. That is what the recommendation should have been.

[csziggy]

14. Rod Rosenstein was appopinted Deputy Attorney General in April 2017

Before that he served as a United States Attorney for the District of Maryland. He was not in a position to make statements, other than personal opinion, about Comey's actions.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_Rosenstein

[DallasNE]

16. My Bad

While I knew he had only been in his current position for about 10 days because Trump fired his predecessor, his statement made it sound like he was elevated from within. But that doesn't change the conclusion. Why did he not recommend that we wait to hear what the Inspector General had to say rather than short-circuiting that effort. His statement sounds very self-serving.

[Freethinker65]

3. Perhaps he wants to be next FBI Director?

[SunSeeker]

4. It is not the content of your memo that is at issue. It is that you were PLAYED, Rod.

And you knew you were being played. And you let it happen. You KNEW Trump wasn't firing Comey because of Comey's outrageous press conference last July, nor his even more outrageous October 28 letter. Trump is on record as complimenting both actions. You knew Trump wanted to fire Comey because Comey wasn't dropping the Russia investigation. You KNEW that. Yet you let Trump use your memo as a fig leaf. You thus became part of the cover-up and an accessory to Trump's obstruction of justice. Do you "stand by" that?

[Little Star]

6. Yep!

[snooper2]

8. I never knew we had so many lawyers on DU

Greatness!

[grantcart]

10. everyone of us could pass the bar, lol.

[grantcart]

11. I am guessing that the appointment of Mueller is his answer to that question.

[DallasNE]

15. I'm Not A Mueller Fan

Mueller was sitting right behind Colin Powell when Powell made the case for war against Iraq before the UN and was based on cherry-picked intelligence. He was a yes man then. The SOTU speech is always vetted for accuracy yet when Bush claimed that Saddam sought to buy yellowcake from Africa it was let stand, even though the FBI thought the document was fake that made that claim. He was a yes man again. Mueller's probe will also dry up the other investigations because possible witnesses, such as Comey, will be asked not to talk.

[bucolic_frolic]

9. I don't think this guy is going to say much

CYA. He may have just gone along with what Trump wanted to do to keep
the "You're fired!" off the front burner. As DAG he has more influence than if
he's canned, which might have happened if it were known he was appointing
a special prosecutor.

[ananda]

13. That memo was an example of the corruption that is endemic in the 45 admin.

I guess a requirement for getting and keeping a job there is corruption and loyalty.

Rosenstein admitted that the memo was to provide cover for 45. When 45 himself
contradicted that, well...