Speed Reads

is it mueller time?

Why Rod Rosenstein's DOJ extension could be a sign the Mueller report is coming

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein apparently likes being the Department of Justice's punching bag.

Multiple outlets reported Tuesday that Rosenstein, who once oversaw Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe, was planning to keep his job "a little longer" than he once thought. His decision to stay on reportedly came after a discussion with Attorney General William Barr, and CNN's Pamela Brown seems to have a reason why.

Rosenstein has long been seen as a stable voice in a tumultuous DOJ under Trump. He survived what seemed like an inevitable ouster late last year, and was reported to be considering an exit in mid-March. After plans of him staying on longer were reported Tuesday morning, national security expert Clint Watts devised his own explanation: that Barr found a first briefing on Mueller's report too "complicated" to work out on his own, he tweeted. Kathryn Krawczyk