WASHINGTON (CN) — While he acknowledged FBI shortcomings, former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein on Wednesday defended his decision to appoint Robert Mueller as special counsel, testifying in a Senate panel’s probe into the origins of the FBI’s Russia investigation.
“I believed at the time — and I still believe — it was the right decision under the circumstances,” Rosenstein told senators Wednesday of his decision to appoint Mueller. “I recognize people can criticize me for it, that’s the consequence of being in these jobs, you make decisions and then you get criticized for them. But I believe it was the right decision at the time.”
Rosenstein appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee today as the first witness in the panel’s inquiry into how the FBI launched its investigation, dubbed Crossfire Hurricane, into allegations that the Trump campaign had colluded with the Russian government in the 2016 election.
Since the Mueller probe wrapped up last year, Republicans have turned their focus to examining the origins of the investigation, which Trump’s most vocal defenders have claimed was launched to discredit the president and his incoming administration.
That contention took a hit in December when Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz released a report finding Crossfire Hurricane had valid underpinning. Horowitz did, however, fault the FBI for how it handled surveillance warrants on former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page, finding 17 “significant inaccuracies and omissions” on the applications.
Rosenstein told the committee on Wednesday he would not have signed off on an application to renew surveillance of Page if he had known of the faults that the inspector general’s report identified. He said, while he signed the application and takes ultimate accountability for its approval, it was the responsibility of the agents who prepared the application to ensure the information supporting it was accurate.
His role, Rosenstein explained, was to certify lower-level employees followed appropriate procedures.
Faced with fiery questions from Senator Josh Hawley about his approval of the Page surveillance application, Rosenstein said he was troubled by what Horowitz’s report revealed, but noted he is no longer in a position to make necessary changes going forward.
“I certainly am accountable for it, but in order to solve this problem — yelling at me is not going to solve the problem,” Rosenstein said. “We need to figure out what happened — did people engage in misconduct, are there systemic problems — so we can fix them and it won’t happen again.”
Responding to questions from Senator Lindsey Graham, Rosenstein agreed that, by the time he issued a memo in August 2017 detailing the scope of Mueller’s investigation, there was no evidence the Trump campaign was working with the Russian government.
“The point is the whole concept that the campaign was colluding with the Russians, there was no there there in August 2017,” Graham said to Rosenstein. “Do you agree with that general statement or not?”
“I agree with that general statement,” Rosenstein responded.
Rosenstein served as deputy attorney general until May of last year and appointed Mueller to look into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and allegations of collusion with the Trump campaign.
Thrust into the spotlight of overseeing the probe that dominated Washington for the better part of two years after the recusal of former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Rosenstein became the frequent target of President Donald Trump and his allies.
With Rosenstein now out of government and working in private practice, the hearing largely served as a chance for lawmakers to relitigate the Mueller investigation and retread allegations of political bias at the Justice Department.