Rod Rosenstein: My Time as Deputy AG 'Coming to an End'

Appearing before University of Pennsylvania students Thursday, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said his time at the Department of Justice is “coming to an end.”

“My time as a law enforcement official is coming to an end, a lot later than I expected,” the top law enforcement official said, according to The Hill. “People joke about the revolving door between government and the private sector. The door never revolved for me. It was one way in, and one way out.”

Rosenstein’s remarks come as several news outlets reported this week that the Justice Department’s number two is expected to leave his post in mid-March.

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump announced he intends to nominate Jeffrey Rosen, a seasoned litigator and deputy transportation secretary, to replace Rosenstein. The announcement came hours after newly-confirmed Attorney General William Barr selected Rosen for the post.

Rosenstein’s relationship with the president has been rocky throughout his tenure as deputy attorney general. He has overseen special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia in the 2016 presidential election.

Then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from the probe due to his involvement in the Trump campaign.

President Trump slammed Rosenstein after FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe after he told CBS News’ 60 Minutes that the Justice Department proposed lobbying cabinet members to invoke the 25th Amendment to oust the president.

“He and Rod Rosenstein, who was hired by Jeff Sessions (another beauty), look like they were planning a very illegal act, and got caught,” the president tweeted on Monday.

McCabe made the remarks in a sit-down with CBS News’ Pelley to promote his soon-to-be-released-book The Threat: How the FBI Protects America in the Age of Terror and Trump.

“[McCabe] is the very first person involved in these meetings who has come out and spoken publicly,” Pelly told CBS This Morning. “They were counting noses, they were not asking cabinet members whether they would vote for or against removing the president, but they were speculating ‘This person would be with us. That person would not be…’ and they were counting noses in that effort. … This was not perceived to be a joke.”

In a statement through the Justice Department last week, Rosenstein rejected allegations made by McCabe, saying “As to the specific portions of this interview provided to the Department of Justice by 60 Minutes in advance, the Deputy Attorney General again rejects Mr. McCabe’s recitation of events as inaccurate and factually incorrect.”