US Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein May Resign In Mid-March - Reports

US Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who appointed Robert Mueller as a special counsel to lead the probe into the alleged Trump-Russia collusion ahead of the 2016 US presidential election and oversaw the investigation, may resign from his post in the middle of March, local media reported on Tuesday, citing a Justice Department official

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th February, 2019) US Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who appointed Robert Mueller as a special counsel to lead the probe into the alleged Trump-Russia collusion ahead of the 2016 US presidential election and oversaw the investigation, may resign from his post in the middle of March, local media reported on Tuesday, citing a Justice Department official.

CNN reported in January that Rosenstein was planning to resign shortly after the appointment of new Attorney General William Barr. On Sunday, former Deputy Director of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Andrew McCabe alleged that Rosenstein seriously talked about wearing a recording device to the White House to wiretap US President Donald Trump and raised the idea of invoking the 25th Amendment to the US constitution, which allows the cabinet members to remove the president from office if they believe him to be unable to do the job.

However, the official told the broadcaster that the deputy attorney general's possible resignation had nothing to do with McCabe's remarks and was indeed timed to the appointment of the new Justice Department chief. According to CNN, Rosenstein's successor might be announced this week.

On February 14, US Senate confirmed Barr as Trump's nominee for the post of the country's attorney general. The previous Justice Department chief, Jeff Sessions, was dismissed by the president last November, with Matthew Whitaker replacing him until Barr's appointment.

CNN reported that Barr could appoint Jeffrey Rosen as his deputy.