{"id":36328,"date":"2017-05-11T08:50:56","date_gmt":"2017-05-11T14:50:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=36328"},"modified":"2017-05-11T09:16:42","modified_gmt":"2017-05-11T15:16:42","slug":"rod-rosenstein-5-things-to-know-about-the-man-who-helped-get-comey-fired","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/rod-rosenstein-5-things-to-know-about-the-man-who-helped-get-comey-fired\/","title":{"rendered":"Rod Rosenstein: 5 things to know about the man who helped get Comey fired"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By BEN SALES<\/p>\n<p>(JTA) \u2014 Until this year, Rod Rosenstein was an unassuming U.S. attorney with a reputation for fairness.<\/p>\n<p>Now he\u2019s at the center of the controversy over President Donald Trump\u2019s snap firing of James Comey, the FBI director.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_36329\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/rod-rosenstein.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-36329\" class=\"wp-image-36329 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/rod-rosenstein-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Rod Rosenstein, deputy attorney general nominee for U.S. President Donald Trump, listens during a Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, March 7, 2017. The confirmation hearing for Rosenstein began with Republicans and Democrats squaring off over who should lead probes into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and potential contacts between Moscow and Trumps campaign team. Photographer: Andrew Harrer\/Bloomberg via Getty Images\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/rod-rosenstein-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/rod-rosenstein-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/200;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-36329\" class=\"wp-image-36329 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/rod-rosenstein-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Rod Rosenstein, deputy attorney general nominee for U.S. President Donald Trump, listens during a Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, March 7, 2017. The confirmation hearing for Rosenstein began with Republicans and Democrats squaring off over who should lead probes into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and potential contacts between Moscow and Trumps campaign team. Photographer: Andrew Harrer\/Bloomberg via Getty Images\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/rod-rosenstein-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/rod-rosenstein-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-36329\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein at a Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing in Washington, D.C., March 7, 2017. (Andrew Harrer\/Bloomberg\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Rosenstein, 52, whose appointment by Trump as deputy attorney general was confirmed only two weeks ago, wrote the\u00a0memo outlining concerns with Comey\u2019s performance, mostly related to his handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation. Based on the memo, said the White House, Trump decided to fire Comey, delivering the surprise decision last night. Comey contends that it was Trump who asked him to write the memo in the first place.<\/p>\n<p>With the media spotlight now shining on Rosenstein, he has pushed back, allegedly threatening to resign. The firing puts Rosenstein in a difficult position: He is the Justice Department official overseeing the FBI investigation of Russian involvement in Trump\u2019s presidential campaign that Comey was leading. Pundits are questioning the timing of the memo, as well as asking whether it was drafted to provide cover to what was a foregone conclusion to oust Comey.<\/p>\n<p>So who is Rosenstein? Here\u2019s where he came from, his Jewish ties and what people are saying about him now.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Rosenstein was respected as a skilled, by-the-book government lawyer.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Before ascending to the deputy attorney general post, Rosenstein spent more than a decade serving as a U.S. attorney in Maryland. He is politically conservative and was appointed by President George W. Bush. But when Barack Obama took office, Rosenstein was one of only three U.S. attorneys among 93 to be kept on\u00a0the job by the new president.<\/p>\n<p>As U.S. attorney, Rosenstein led successful prosecutions for leaks of classified information, corruption, murders and burglaries. He was particularly effective taking on corruption within police departments, according to an essay in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/the-big-idea\/2017\/4\/26\/15433124\/justice-department-sessions-rosenstein-crime-incarceration-deportation\">Vox<\/a> by Thiru Vignarajah, a former colleague.<\/p>\n<p>Vignarajah wrote that Rosenstein \u201cmade real strides.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOver his first decade as the lead federal prosecutor in Maryland, murders statewide were cut by a third, double the decline at the national level. Other violent offenses like robberies and aggravated assaults also fell faster than the national average,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n<p>A sign in Rosenstein\u2019s former office <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/local\/profile-of-rod-rosenstein-us-attorney-for-maryland\/2011\/09\/29\/gIQAfOTWYL_story.html?utm_term=.555b156333b1\">read<\/a>, \u201cDon\u2019t tell me what I want to hear. Just tell me what I NEED TO KNOW.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Senate voted 94-6 to confirm Rosenstein to his new post.<\/p>\n<p><strong>He played a key role investigating Bill and Hillary Clinton.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Comey was allegedly fired for mishandling his investigation of Hillary Clinton. If that\u2019s true, he may have learned from Rosenstein, who was praised for his own Clinton probe two decades ago.<\/p>\n<p>In 1995, Rosenstein joined the team of lawyers investigating the Whitewater scandal, which involved allegations of illegal real estate dealings by the Clintons. The allegations against the Clintons were ultimately unproven, but they led to the exposure of the Monica Lewinsky scandal and President Clinton\u2019s subsequent impeachment.<\/p>\n<p>Rosenstein headed one of the few successful Whitewater prosecutions, which led to the conviction of former Arkansas Gov. Jim Guy Tucker and Clinton associates James and Susan McDougal. He questioned Hillary Clinton at the White House in 1998 as part of a separate case, according to the <a href=\"http:\/\/articles.baltimoresun.com\/2005-06-15\/news\/0506150208_1_rosenstein-lawyer-prosecutor\">Baltimore Sun<\/a>, but she was never implicated.<\/p>\n<p><strong>He graduated from Penn and Harvard \u2014 and he\u2019s a family man.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Rosenstein grew up in the upscale Philadelphia suburb of Huntingdon Valley. He\u2019s a 1982 graduate of the public high school and earned a merit scholarship to the University of Pennsylvania\u2019s prestigious Wharton School of Business \u2014 also Trump\u2019s alma mater. He later attended Harvard Law School, joining the conservative Federalist Society, which gave him a Distinguished Alumni Award in 2006.<\/p>\n<p>Rosenstein is married to Lisa Barsoomian, who also served as a U.S. attorney. The couple have two <a href=\"http:\/\/www.upenn.edu\/gazette\/0902\/0902notes.html\">daughters<\/a>, 17 \u00a0and\u00a015, and live in the Washington, D.C., suburb of Bethesda, Maryland. While Rosenstein works late nights, the Sun reported that he would often go bicycling with the family on Sundays.<\/p>\n<p><strong>He used to play sports at the local JCC.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Not much surfaces about Rosenstein\u2019s Jewish involvement online, but he has been affiliated with Jewish institutions in the past. He was a member of Bethesda\u2019s Reform Temple Sinai from 2008 to 2014, and of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum from 2001 to 2011.<\/p>\n<p>According to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.judiciary.senate.gov\/imo\/media\/doc\/Rosenstein%20SJQ%20(Public).pdf\">questionnaire<\/a> he filled out ahead of his Senate Judiciary Committee hearing this year, Rosenstein also was a member of a \u201cJewish Community Center Sports League\u201d from 1993 to 2012.<\/p>\n<p>Which JCC? Which sport? An ongoing JTA investigation has yet to uncover the answer.<\/p>\n<p><strong>He wrote a damning letter against Comey \u2014 but never explicitly recommended firing him.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Rosenstein didn\u2019t hold back in a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-us-canada-39866767\">1,000-word letter<\/a> delineating Comey\u2019s missteps. He lambasted Comey both for his July statement that Hillary Clinton would not face indictment and for Comey\u2019s Oct. 28 letter announcing the reopening of the Clinton investigation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI cannot defend the Director\u2019s handling of the conclusion of the investigation of Secretary Clinton\u2019s emails, and I do not understand his refusal to accept the nearly universal judgment that he was mistaken,\u201d Rosenstein wrote. \u201cAlmost everyone agrees that the Director made serious mistakes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But the evisceration stops just short of calling for Comey to be canned. Rosenstein does write that \u201cthe FBI is unlikely to regain public and congressional trust until it has a Director who understands the gravity of the mistakes and pledges never to repeat them. Having refused to admit his errors, the Director cannot be expected to implement the necessary corrective actions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But just before that, he cautioned, \u201cAlthough the President has the power to remove an FBI director, the decision should not be taken lightly.\u201d The memorandum\u00a0is dated Tuesday, May 9.<\/p>\n<p>Rosenstein contends that Trump then used his letter to justify the decision the President had apparently already made.<\/p>\n<p><em>(CCJN editor Alan Smason updated this article.)<\/em><\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"Tumblr\",\"Email\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"Rod%20Rosenstein%3A%205%20things%20to%20know%20about%20the%20man%20who%20helped%20get%20Comey%20fired\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":36329,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[8493,1781,8790,8795,8788,8492],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36328"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36328"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36328\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36335,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36328\/revisions\/36335"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}