rarrarorro/iStockBy ALEXANDER MALLIN, ABC News(WASHINGTON) — Former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, whose appointment of Robert Mueller established the special counsel investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, is expected to field tough questions from Senate Republicans Wednesday as the probe has drawn renewed political scrutiny in recent months.”I decided that appointing a Special Counsel was the best way to complete the investigation appropriately and promote public confidence in its conclusions,” Rosenstein is expected to say, according to a release of his opening remarks. “As we now know, the eventual conclusions were that Russians committed crimes seeking to influence the election and Americans did not conspire with them.”Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., has said Rosenstein’s hearing will be just the first in a series of public inquiries of officials who had direct involvement in investigating whether members of the Trump campaign may have colluded with Russians who meddled in the 2016 election. Democrats have argued Graham’s efforts are part of a fishing expedition by Republicans to obscure Russia’s role in 2016 and support unfounded claims by President Trump that he was personally spied on and was a victim of a ‘coup attempt’ by Obama Administration holdovers.Specifically, Graham said he will press Rosenstein over his role in signing off on an application for continuing surveillance on former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.A review of how those applications were handled by Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz found significant errors and material omissions by FBI agents involved in the process, even as Horowitz said he believed the Russia investigation as a whole was not improper.In January, the Justice Department said that two of the four so-called ‘FISA applications’ for surveillance of Page, including the final renewal application signed by Rosenstein, lacked enough information to establish probable cause and thus were invalid.”Every application that I approved appeared to be justified based on the facts it alleged, and the FBI was supposed to be following protocols to ensure that every fact was verified,” Rosenstein will say according to prepared remarks. “Whenever agents or prosecutors make serious mistakes or engage in misconduct, the Department of Justice must take remedial action. And if existing policies fall short, those policies need to be changed.”Rosenstein resigned from the department in April 2019 having assisted Attorney General William Barr in the release of the special counsel’s report, after both concluded there was “not sufficient evidence” to pursue obstruction of justice charges against President Trump.Rosenstein will likely face questions over that decision from Democrats on the committee, who have argued that the decision to exonerate the president was his or Barr’s to make. Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
