Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosentein is expected to leave the Justice Department in the coming weeks – shortly after William Barr, President Trump’s nominee for AG, is confirmed, according to a report.
Rosenstein, who was nominated to the post in Feb. 2017 and had apparently thought of serving for about two years, and wants to ensure a smooth transition, several sources familiar with his plans told ABC News on Wednesday.
He told the president and White House officials of his plans to leave around the time Barr would assume the position after a Senate confirmation, the network reported.
Rosenstein began overseeing special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into whether Russia meddled in the 2016 presidential election when then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself in the matter over his role in Trump’s presidential campaign.
Speculation about his departure mounted after Sessions was fired in November and Matt Whitaker began serving as acting attorney general.
Rosenstein became a frequent target of Trump’s ire on Twitter — with the president recently re-posting an image of him and other officials behind bars.
In May 2017, shortly after the president dumped FBI chief James Comey, Rosenstein appointed Mueller to take over the FBI probe of Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election and possible ties between Russians and Trump associates.
In September, tensions between Rosenstein and the president reached a boiling point amid reports that, during a meeting after Comey’s firing, Rosenstein raised the possibility of secretly recording Trump at the White House.
Rosenstein has denied the reports and his defenders have said his remarks were merely sarcastic.
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