National Organizations and Concerned Citizens Urge Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein Not to Resign and to Stay in Office to Protect Mueller Investigation
National Organizations and Concerned Citizens Urge Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein Not to Resign and to Stay in Office to Protect Mueller Investigation
Thirty-nine national organizations and concerned citizens sent a letter to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein today urging him not to resign and to continue his service at the Department of Justice.
The letter called on Rosenstein to stay in his position and “continue to protect the Mueller and related investigations from any outside interference.”
According to the letter:
We strongly urge you not to resign, and should your resignation be demanded, to decline. Those who were fired in the Saturday Night Massacre were celebrated at the time as heroes, a judgment vindicated by history.
Signers of the letter include a number of democracy and watchdog organizations, former Democratic and Republican White House ethics czars, two former Republican Governors and a former Republican Senator, Republican Women for Progress, a Founding Director of Republicans for the Rule of Law, a former Chairman of the American Conservative Union and of the House Republican Policy Committee, and a number of former Republican House members.
The letter stated:
You have done an enormous amount for the country in appointing Special Counsel Robert Mueller to conduct the Russia investigation, in protecting that investigation from outside interference, and in otherwise standing up for the finest traditions of the Department of Justice.
You have defended the Constitution and the rule of law in accomplishing all of this in the face of unwarranted and relentless attacks from various places.
The letter further stated:
The stakes for the country are paramount in continuing to ensure that the Mueller and related investigations are allowed to continue uninterrupted to their conclusion without any outside interference. If you leave, the American people have no guarantees that those investigations will remain independent and free from intervention or restrictions in the future.
The letter also said:
The American people are entitled to know the results of the Mueller investigation and the handling of any report from Special Counsel Mueller is currently to be determined by you.
It is essential for the good of the country that you stay at your post and continue to protect the Mueller and related investigations from any outside interference.
Find the full letter here. The letter was signed by:
Democracy 21
Ambassador Norman Eisen (Ret.), Chief White House ethics lawyer, 2009-2011
Action Group Network
American Oversight
Arne H. Carlson, former Republican Governor of Minnesota
Christie Whitman, former Republican Governor of New Jersey
Claudine Schneider, former Republican Congresswoman from Rhode Island; Founding Member, Republicans for Integrity
Coalition to Preserve, Protect and Defend
Common Cause
CREW
Dave Durenberger, former Republican Senator from Minnesota
Dave Emery, former Republican Congressman from Maine
Defending Democracy
Emil Frankel, former official, President George W. Bush Administration
Equal Justice Society
Jim Leach, former Republican Congressman from Iowa
John LeBoutillier, former Republican Congressman from New York
Justin Hendrix, March for Truth
Kathleen Clark
Laurence H. Tribe, University Professor, Professor of Constitutional Law, Harvard Law School
Law Works
Lawyers for Good Government
Loyal Opposition
Mickey Edwards, former Chairman, American Conservative Union; former Chairman, House Republican Policy Committee
Niskanen Center
People For the American Way
Peter Smith, former Republican Congressman from Vermont
Protect Democracy
Protect the Investigation
Public Citizen
Revolving Door Project
Republican Women for Progress
Richard Painter, Chief White House ethics lawyer, 2005-2007
Sarah Chayes
Stand Up America
Stand Up Republic
Tom Petri, former Republican Congressman from Wisconsin
Truman Center for National Policy and Truman National Security Project
William Kristol, a Founding Director of Republicans for the Rule of Law
The list of signers has been revised since the letter was sent to include three additional signers: Republican Congressmen Dave Emery and Jim Leach, and Stand Up Republic (instead of Evan McMullin, Stand Up Republic).
