Sen. Coons: ‘I too am questioning the scope and the reach of the dedication of time of this committee to reinvestigate what I think Inspector General Horowitz has thoroughly investigated’

Sen. Coons: ‘We are in the middle of three simultaneous national crises. […] There are many other pressing issues that I hope [the Judiciary] committee will soon turn to’

WASHINGTON — Today, U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) questioned former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing titled “Oversight of the Crossfire Hurricane Investigation: Day 1.” This is the first day of hearings to investigate Crossfire Hurricane, an FBI-authorized investigation into links between Trump associates and Russian officials.

In December 2019, the Office of the Inspector General at the Department of Justice completed an exhaustive investigation into whether the Crossfire Hurricane investigation had an adequate factual and legal predicate. During Senator Coons’ questioning, Rosenstein agreed with Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s finding that the FBI had an authorized purpose when it opened Crossfire Hurricane which was grounded in protecting national security by investigating federal crimes. “I agree with Inspector Horowitz's conclusion,” said Rosenstein.

The Crossfire Hurricane and later investigations ultimately resulted in multiple convictions. Senator Coons noted that “the President’s campaign manager, deputy campaign manager, national security adviser, foreign policy advisor, personal attorney, and longtime political strategist were all either convicted of crimes or pled guilty in federal court.” Rosenstein, in his role as acting Attorney General noted, “I was not aware of any reason to question the appropriateness [of the investigation and prosecution of Michael Flynn] at that time.”

The hearing comes weeks after pressure from President Trump for Senate Republicans to investigate “Obamagate.” Senator Coons stated, “repeated efforts by members of this committee, by journalists to get any clarity or definition about what Obamagate is have come up without any clarity.” When asked if he was aware of any evidence that former President Obama has committed any federal crime, Rosenstein said, “I am not.”

In light of these events, Senator Coons again questioned the ongoing influence of the President over the Department of Justice. Today, Senator Coons asked, “Do you think a president should publicly criticize, question, or attack ongoing Department of Justice investigations?” Rosenstein responded, “I'm not going to comment on the President.”

Senator Coons concluded by noting that this investigation was a poor use of committee time amid three ongoing national crises. Senator Coons said, “I too am questioning the scope and the reach of the dedication of time of this committee to reinvestigate what I think Inspector General Horwitz has thoroughly investigated. We are in the middle of three simultaneous national crises: a public health epidemic, an economic sharp, short downturn, and understandable nationwide protests inflamed by anger at the brutal and public killing of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police. There are many other pressing issues that I hope this committee will soon turn to.”

Full audio and video available here. A transcript is provided below.

Sen. Coons: Mr. Rosenstein, thank you for your testimony and for your service and for your appearance before us today. President Trump has called the Russia investigation a ‘witch-hunt’ which is in sharp contrast with Inspector General Horowitz who concluded that the FBI had an authorized purpose when it opened Crossfire Hurricane which was grounded in protecting our national security in investigating federal crimes. Do you agree with that conclusion? 

Mr. Rosenstein: I agree with Inspector Horowitz's conclusion. Yes, sir.

Sen. Coons: In your oversight role over Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation, did you ever raise a concern about the appropriateness of the investigation and prosecution of Michael Flynn? 

Mr. Rosenstein: I was not aware of any reason to question the appropriateness at that time. 

Sen. Coons: You were the acting Attorney General for that investigation. Did you approve of his guilty plea? 

Mr. Rosenstein: Yes, sir, based on my understanding that the evidence demonstrated his guilt, and he and his attorneys admitted his guilt. 

Sen. Coons: Did you ever raise any concerns about whether Flynn's false statements were material to the FBI’s national security investigation? 

Mr. Rosenstein: I was not aware of any issue. 

Sen. Coons: And are you aware of any precedent for the Department of Justice moving to dismiss a case after a defendant pled guilty to lying to the FBI?

Mr. Rosenstein: I don't know the answer to that, Senator. There may be. I'm not personally aware, but the department certainly has moved to dismiss cases in the past. 

Sen. Coons: You authorized filing the indictment in the Roger Stone case as well, correct?

Mr. Rosenstein: Correct. 

Sen. Coons: And a jury convicted Roger Stone– 

Mr. Rosenstein: If I could just clarify. I believe that -- I don't believe I was acting Attorney General at the time the Stone case was filed, so I was certainly aware of it, but I don't know that I, as a legal matter, I don't know that I authorized it. 

Sen. Coons: In any event, a jury ultimately convicted Roger Stone of seven felony accounts in the indictment. Do you think Roger Stone committed those crimes of which he was convicted? 

Mr. Rosenstein: Based upon the jury’s verdict, yes. 

Sen. Coons: And in the Roger Stone case, career prosecutors filed a sentencing motion and the political leadership of the department filed a different motion within a day. The career attorneys then withdrew from the case and one went further and resigned from the department.  Are you aware of any other recent case where political appointees filed a sentencing recommendation that is so markedly different from what career prosecutors had filed? 

Mr. Rosenstein: I understand your question, Senator. The only issue I would take with it is that technically, every pleading we file contains the name of the U.S. Attorney. You’re focusing on whose signature appears on the document, but all those documents are filed in the name of the U.S. Attorney, and I consider U.S. Attorneys responsible for them. 

Sen. Coons: Do you think a president should publicly criticize, question, or attack ongoing Department of Justice investigations? 

Mr. Rosenstein: I'm not going to comment on the President, Senator, as I think I made clear. I understood the President's frustration, and I don't think it is my job to comment on how he articulates that. 

Sen. Coons: Well the President has recently referred repeatedly to something he calls Obamagate, which he has repeatedly said is worse than Watergate, and repeated efforts by members of this committee, by journalists to get any clarity or definition about what Obamagate is have come up without any clarity. Are you aware of any evidence that former President Obama has committed any federal crime? 

Mr. Rosenstein: I am not. 

Sen. Coons: There’s been a lot of discussion in this hearing; in particular, about the Carter Page FISA warrant and the findings in the Inspector General’s report that I think are worthy of concern and focus. Carter Page, though, was not indicted in the Mueller investigation, correct? 

Mr. Rosenstein: Correct. Not indicted and presumed innocent. I think it is unfortunate that that FISA information was leaked. 

Sen. Coons: In fact, by the end of it, the President’s campaign manager, deputy campaign manager, national security adviser, foreign policy advisor, personal attorney, and longtime political strategist were all either convicted of crimes or pled guilty in federal court. You approved of the significant investigative steps in those cases and approved the filing of those charge. Is that correct? 

Mr. Rosenstein: As I said, I don't know that I was there for the last one, but I believe all the charges that were filed were legitimate. 

Sen. Coons: And in January 2020, you were quoted in the Washington Post saying, ‘certainly in retrospect, there are things I might have done differently, but I think we got all the big issues right.’ Do you still think you got the big issues right? 

Mr. Rosenstein: Yes, sir. And I wasn’t referring just to Russia. There were a lot of big issues, obviously, and I believe we did. ‘We’ being the team we had in place in the department, that I believe we got the big issues right. 

Sen. Coons: Well, I’ll just close by saying, you know, I too am questioning the scope and the reach of the dedication of time of this committee to reinvestigate what I think Inspector General Horowitz has thoroughly investigated. We are in the middle of three simultaneous national crises: a public health epidemic, an economic sharp, short downturn, and understandable nationwide protests inflamed by anger at the brutal and public killing of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police. There are many other pressing issues that I hope this committee will soon turn to, and I appreciate your testimony before us today.

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