Trump reportedly pressured Rod Rosenstein to declare his loyalty too

Rod Rosenstein.
(Image credit: Zach Gibson/Getty Images)

During a meeting in December, President Trump asked Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein if he was "on my team," CNN reported Wednesday. Rosenstein's reply was apparently diplomatic: "Of course, we are all on your team, Mr. President."

Trump's question reportedly came as he asked Rosenstein for information about Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. CNN notes that "it is not clear what Trump meant or how Rosenstein interpreted the comment," but the deputy attorney general was apparently "surprised" by the question as well as by how the meeting unfolded. CNN says that Rosenstein had come to the White House hoping to secure the president's support in dealing with repeated document requests from House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), but Trump instead questioned him about Mueller's probe.

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Kelly O'Meara Morales

Kelly O'Meara Morales is a staff writer at The Week. He graduated from Sarah Lawrence College and studied Middle Eastern history and nonfiction writing amongst other esoteric subjects. When not compulsively checking Twitter, he writes and records music, subsists on tacos, and watches basketball.