Dep. Attorney General Rosenstein to brief Senate on Comey Firing

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein accepted a Senate invitation to brief the senators on the firing of FBI Director James Comey.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced Monday that Rosenstein will be briefing the full Senate on Thursday. But, the media will likely be kept out of the session.

Rosenstein will brief senators on Thursday regarding the circumstances behind the firing of former Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey. Rosenstein wrote a memo critical of Comey, which the White House initially cited as the reason for the firing.

President Trump has since announced that the memo had nothing to do with his firing of Comey. And he was going to fire Comey anyway.

McConnell might hope the session will prevent some Democrat Senators from opposing Comey’s replacement. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters that Democrats would oppose any nominee unless a special prosecutor is assigned to the Russia election interference probe. Normally, a special prosecutor is only brought in when a crime has been identified. So far, neither the two congressional hearings nor the FBI investigation have indicated that any laws were broken.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi also wants Rosenstein to explain to House lawmakers how President Trump decided to fire Comey.

“I hope that you will insist that Rosenstein brief and answer questions from the full House,” Pelosi wrote in a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan.