Donald Trump went on a tweeting and retweeting spree on Thursday, sharing praise of himself and criticism of his opponents. The President was particularly keen to highlight former deputy AG Rod Rosenstein.
Rosenstein testified before the Senate on Wednesday. Republicans grilled him as part of their continued push to undermine the Russia probe and the conclusions of Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
Trump simply joined the chorus of those using Rosenstein to attack Mueller.
“Mueller should have never been appointed, although he did prove that I must be the most honest man in America!” Trump tweeted.
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Mueller should have never been appointed, although he did prove that I must be the most honest man in America! https://t.co/JjrTV2FKEt
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 4, 2020
The President has painted Mueller’s investigation as a conspiracy against him, involving a wide range of officials, Rosenstein among them. Senate Republicans pushed the narrative on Wednesday.
However, the former deputy attorney general defended his decision to appoint Mueller. Then Attorney General Jeff Sessions had recused himself – which led to Rosenstein being in the cross hairs today.
“I was concerned the public would not have confidence in the investigation and that the acting FBI director was not the right person to lead it,” Rosenstein said.
“I decided appointment of special counsel was the best way to complete the investigation and promote public confidence in the conclusions.”
As other Twitter users were quick to point out, Mueller did not absolve Trump of wrongdoing, despite Republican attempts to frame the probe as something approaching a coup.
“If we had had confidence that the president clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said so,” Mueller’s report said.
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Darragh Roche is a journalist covering U.S. politics and media
