Rosenstein will fly to Florida with Trump on Monday, a senior official said



[ad_1]


Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein. (Evan Vucci / AP)

Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein, whose future at the Justice Department has been steeped in drama, plans to fly with President Trump on Air Force One for a Florida event Monday, according to a senior official current of his projects.

Trump and Rosenstein were to meet at the end of last month following reports that Rosenstein wanted to establish a wiretap of the president early in his tenure. But Trump postponed the meeting in the midst of a tedious confirmation process for Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh.

It was not yet clear whether Trump and Rosenstein would hold this meeting during the Florida trip on Monday. The manager who described Rosenstein's plans was not allowed to speak publicly about his trip and requested anonymity.

Trump will fly to Orlando for an afternoon address at the annual conference of the International Association of Chiefs of Police. It is not uncommon for senior Justice Department officials to join Trump at such events.

Rosenstein, who oversees the investigation into Russian interference in the elections led by special advocate Robert S. Mueller III, has proposed to resign last month after announcing that he was considering a Secretly record conversations with the president.

The Department of Justice has begun to prepare for a future without him: Matt Whitaker, Chief of Staff to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, would assume the duties of Deputy Attorney General, and Noel Francisco, the Solicitor General, would take over the role of Deputy Attorney General. investigation of Russia.

As the plan took shape, Rosenstein went to the White House, expecting him to be fired but to keep his position.

At a press conference two days later, Trump said, "My preference would be to keep it and let it finish."

White House officials told the Post that it was unlikely Trump would dismiss Rosenstein until mid-term elections in November.

Trump's speech at the Police Chiefs' Rally follows a new FBI report that the number of homicides and other violent crimes declined slightly in the United States last year, suggesting that the The increase in the number of violent crimes in recent years could end.

The increase in violence in 2015 and 2016 triggered an alarm throughout the country, including from Sessions, who warned of "rising violent crime" in the country. Experts cautioned against over reading the annual data, while others have pointed to the dramatic decline in crime over the last 25 years to support the argument for a restructuring. of criminal justice.

[ad_2]
Source link