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Department all the way back in 1990 and has been there ever since, serving as a public corruptions prosecutor and then taking on management jobs under presidents of both parties. In 2005, President George W. Bush appointed him to be US attorney for the state of Maryland, and he held that position throughout the Obama presidency as well. After Trump won the presidency, he picked Jeff Sessions to be his attorney general. As a US senator, Sessions was an outsider to the DOJ. So he wanted someone who knew the department well in the deputy post (which is traditionally responsible for running things day to day). So he chose Rosenstein, who was respected by legal professionals in both parties. The pick got little attention at the time — but proved to be supremely important. In March 2017, Sessions announced he would recuse himself from the Russia investigation — meaning that, as soon as Rosenstein was confirmed by the Senate, he’d be the top Justice Department official in charge of it. Then, once Rosenstein was finally sworn in in late April, Trump waited only two weeks before inviting him and Sessions to the White House to discuss firing James Comey. On May 8, 2017, Rosenstein wrote a memo harshly criticizing Comey’s handling of Hillary Clinton email investigation, and gave it to the White House. The very next day, Trump fired Comey and released Rosenstein’s memo as his justification. Rosenstein appointed Robert Mueller and has overseen his investigation since. Rosenstein announces the indictment of 12 Russian intelligence officers in connection with election-related email hacking in July 2018. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images. Comey’s firing was a shocking breach of political and institutional norms (the FBI director traditionally stays on for a 10-year term), and it threw the US political system into crisis. The ensuing chaotic days were filled with leaks claiming that Trump had privately pressured Comey for “loyalty,” that he’d and urged Comey to drop an investigation into Michael Flynn, and that he’d disclosed classified information to Russian officials in the Oval Office. With such allegations of Trump apparently trying to corrupt the rule of law, even some Republicans began to talk about impeachment. It was Rosenstein who made the key choice that abated this crisis — appointing Robert Mueller as special counsel to oversee the Russia probe on May 17, 2017. The appointment of a special counsel restored confidence that the rule of law would be preserved and that, if there was anything to the Russia scandal, he’d get to the bottom of it. Mueller in particular had sterling credentials as former FBI director appointed by George W. Bush, which likely made him feel empowered to investigate quite vigorously. Since then, there’s been an endless amount of ink spilled about the “Mueller investigation.” Yet all along, Mueller has had a boss: Rod Rosenstein. And Rosenstein’s backing of Mueller has clearly been crucial in shaping the probe so far. HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_028330