Rosenstein: If Mueller Overruled by AG Barr, He Is Required to Report That to Congress

Monday at The Center for Strategic & International Studies in Washington, D.C., Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein discussed special counsel Robert Mueller investigation’s requirements to report to Attorney General Bill Barr. Rosenstein said, “The special counsel regulation actually was put together in a very thoughtful way. And the goal of special counsel regulation was to ensure that when the attorney general or acting attorney general believed it was appropriate, that we would establish a process whereby there would be some additional independence, structural independence really comes in, in the fact that if a special counsel, if the special counsel proposes to take an action and is overruled by the attorney general, or the acting attorney general, we are required to report that to the Congress. That’s the structural independence provided in the statute. The special counsel is a subordinate employee who reports to the attorney general or the acting attorney general and who complies with department policies, including requirement to pursue — to obtain approval for certain actions just like an acting United States attorney, for example, would need to.” He added, “I can’t answer your question because that’s going to be a decision the attorney general makes with what