Sen. Ted Cruz went after Former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein today during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing to investigate the origins of the Trump-Russia probe.
Cruz said that the Obama administration committed “the worst known instance of abuse of power” in American history.
Cruz described the Justice Department, upon Rosenstein’s arrival as deputy attorney general, as “corrupted and politicized.”
Cruz went on to list Rosenstein’s actions as deputy attorney general with regard to the Russia investigation—including his May 17, 2017 appointment of Robert Mueller as special counsel; his June 29, 2017 signing of the FISA warrant renewal for Page; and his Aug. 2, 2017, “scope” memo for Mueller’s investigation.
“You came into a profoundly politicized world and yet, all of this was allowed to go forward under your leadership,” Cruz said. “That, unfortunately, leads to only two possible conclusions—either you were complicit in the wrongdoing, which I don’t believe was the case, or that your performance of your duties was grossly negligent.”
Rosenstein chuckled at Cruz’s characterizations, and said that “you always wish you could have done more.”
"But we did have 70,000 cases filed that year,” Rosenstein said. “I devoted more attention to this case than anything else, but I still didn’t know everything and that is the best I can give you, senator.”