Former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein fired back against former FBI Director James Comey on Monday, admonishing him for "speculating about the strength of my character and the fate of my immortal soul."
Comey has made several unflattering public comments about Rosenstein, whose last day as deputy attorney general was Saturday. During a CNN town hall on Thursday, Comey said Rosenstein was "not strong enough" to stand up to President Trump, and in a New York Times op-ed earlier this month, he argued that working for Trump eats away at your soul and wondered how in the wake of the release of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report, Rosenstein could praise Trump in his resignation letter and quote him on the rule of law.
NBC News obtained Rosenstein's prepared remarks for an event Monday night with the Greater Baltimore Committee, and in his speech, an indignant Rosenstein called Comey a "partisan pundit," and said he finds it "disappointing" that Comey is "selling books and earning speaking fees while speculating about the strength of my character and fate of my immortal soul." Conjecture about souls, he added, is "not a job for police and prosecutors. Generally, we base our opinions on eyewitness testimony."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Senate votes to kill Trump’s Brazil tariffSpeed Read Five Senate Republicans joined the Democrats in rebuking Trump’s import tax
-
Gaza ceasefire teeters as Netanyahu orders strikesSpeed Read Israel accused Hamas of firing on Israeli troops
-
Border Patrol gets scrutiny in court, gains power in ICESpeed Read Half of the new ICE directors are reportedly from DHS’s more aggressive Customs and Border Protection branch
-
Hungary’s Krasznahorkai wins Nobel for literatureSpeed Read László Krasznahorkai is the author of acclaimed novels like ‘The Melancholy of Resistance’ and ‘Satantango’
-
Primatologist Jane Goodall dies at 91Speed Read She rose to fame following her groundbreaking field research with chimpanzees
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, StalloneSpeed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's viewSpeed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talkSpeed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
