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If Rosenstein Departs, His Replacement Must Protect the Mueller Investigation

* * * THIS STATEMENT WAS UPDATED ON SEPT. 24 TO REFLECT BREAKING NEWS EVENTS * * *

Sept. 24, 2018

If Rosenstein Departs, His Replacement Must Protect the Mueller Investigation

Statement of Robert Weissman, President; and Lisa Gilbert, Vice President of Legislative Affairs

Note: News reports indicate that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein will meet Thursday with President Donald Trump amid reports that Rosenstein will be fired. Rosenstein has been overseeing the investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller into Trump’s campaign. People nationwide have pledged to take to the streets and protest if Rosenstein is fired. Public Citizen is one of the lead organizers of the protests.

We’ll know soon enough about the details of the Rosenstein situation, but what is most crucial at this moment is that the independence of the Mueller investigation be preserved, and the investigation permitted to continue unhindered. Every member of the Senate, every member of the House of Representatives, every Republican of good faith, every American must insist that the investigation be protected from interference and that any replacement for Rod Rosenstein publicly commit to protecting the Mueller probe. Congress immediately should pass legislation to protect Mueller. If we are to have a functioning democracy, we must defend the bedrock principle that no one is above the law.

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