Rosenstein to testify as first witness in Senate Judiciary's Russia probe

Former acting Attorney General Rod Rosenstein will be the first witness to testify in the Senate Judiciary Committee’s investigation into the origins of the Russia probe.

The Senate Judiciary Committee, chaired by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S. C., announced Wednesday that Rosenstein is scheduled to testify before the committee on June 3 at 10:00 a.m.

The hearing, according to the committee, will be titled “Oversight of the Crossfire Hurricane Investigation: Day 1.”

“Crossfire Hurricane” is the FBI’s internal code name for the bureau’s original investigation into whether members of the Trump campaign were colluding with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election. That investigation was launched by the FBI in July 2016. Former special counsel Robert Mueller's team eventually announced that it found no evidence of coordination.

Rosenstein is the first witness called to testify before the panel as part of its investigation, which Graham laid out the parameters for earlier this month. Graham noted that the committee will, among other things, look at "whether Robert Mueller should have ever been appointed as special counsel.”

Rosenstein, in May 2017, appointed Mueller as special counsel.

Rosenstein also penned the “scope memo” for Mueller’s investigation in August 2017, which outlined the authority of Mueller. Earlier this month, the memo was released in full, and revealed for the first time that Mueller’s authority went significantly beyond what was previously known.

Previously, it had been revealed that in May 2017, Rosenstein authorized Mueller to probe "i) any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump; ii) any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation; [and] iii) any other matters within the scope of [obstruction of justice laws].”

But, Rosenstein's later August 2017 scope memo had remained largely redacted. The newly released version of the document makes clear that Rosenstein didn't hesitate to explicitly authorize a deep-dive criminal probe into the Trump team that extended well beyond Russian interference efforts.

The newly released version of the 2017 scope memo further makes clear that Mueller could look into whether Michael Flynn "committed a crime or crimes by engaging in conversations with Russian government officials during the period of the Trump transition.”

Additionally, the scope memo stated that Mueller was charged specifically with investigating whether several former Trump offic... (Read more)

Latest News