Sen. Feinstein suspects Rosenstein's letter justifying Comey's firing was 'hastily assembled to justify a preordained outcome'

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published 11 May 2017

After reading Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein's memo urging President Trump to fire FBI Director James Comey three times, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said she's starting to smell a rat. In a statement released Thursday, Feinstein suggested that Rosenstein's "legal expertise and 27-year Justice Department career" doesn't match up with the letter, which fails to provide a "detailed and comprehensive rationale":

But instead of a document that provides meaningful analysis, the memo reads like a political document. It includes quotes from op-eds and television appearances that are as old as six months. It doesn't include any contemporary insights from inside the FBI. The memo appears to have been hastily assembled to justify a preordained outcome. [Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.)]

Rosenstein's letter, which Trump apparently asked him to compose after a meeting Monday at the White House with Rosenstein and Attorney General Jeff Sessions, is largely being cited as Trump's reason for the decision. However, reports indicate that Trump had long been growing "increasingly agitated" with Comey's work on the investigation into Trump's ties to Russia, which had reportedly been intensifying in recent weeks.

Feinstein suggested in her letter that both Rosenstein and Sessions "recuse themselves from the appointment, selection, and reporting of a special counsel."