On Wednesday, CNN reported that President Trump is turning up the heat on Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, pressing him for details on the findings of Mueller’s Russia probe. It was Rosenstein who appointed Mueller to his current assignment as Special Consul.
CNN reported that Rosenstein was surprised by the question put forward by Donald Trump. However, he positively replied by saying that “of course, we’re all on your team, Mr. President.”
President Trump is well known – even from his time as a business leader – for demanding unflinching loyalty from his staff and personnel. However, many see this as a dangerous sign that the President may be pressuring investigators and biasing their investigative work.
Former FBI Director, James Comey recently testified that President Trump said to him, “I need loyalty, I expect loyalty,” during a January 2017 meeting. “As long as you are following your oath of office, you can also be faithful to the administration,” Comey later explained.
During a recent hearing, Rosenstein was asked: “Is it ever appropriate for a president of the United States to demand a Department of Justice official or FBI director to take a loyalty pledge?”
However, Rosenstein stated that “I don’t have any opinion about that. Nobody has asked me to take a loyalty pledge, other than the oath of office.”
The spokesman for the FBI, representing the views of the agency, expressed similar worries on Wednesday, in a rare public statement.
“The FBI was provided a limited opportunity to review this memo the day before the committee voted to release it,” the bureau said. “As expressed during our initial review, we have grave concerns about material omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the memo’s accuracy.”
