--- title: James Comey Fired: Rod Rosenstein to Brief U.S. Senate description: Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is set to brief all members of the U.S. Senate on the recent firing of FBI Director James Comey. canonical: https://time.com/4779469/rod-rosenstein-trump-russia-senate/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-05-15T17:51:37.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T08:07:33.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: The Deputy Attorney General Will Brief Senators on James Comey's Firing og:description: Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is set to brief all members of the U.S. Senate on the recent firing of FBI Director James Comey. og:url: https://time.com/4779469/rod-rosenstein-trump-russia-senate/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5cbee17476049a96/6988cd568e060109dc46a5c8/gettyimages-681770208.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4828 og:image:height: 2716 og:image:alt: Nominees for Deputy Attorney General, Rod Rosenstein, and Rachel Brand nominated for Associate Attorney General og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Deputy Attorney General Will Brief Senators on James Comey's Firing twitter:description: Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is set to brief all members of the U.S. Senate on the recent firing of FBI Director James Comey. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5cbee17476049a96/6988cd568e060109dc46a5c8/gettyimages-681770208.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein Will Brief Senators on James Comey's Firing > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=90bbc685-8c03-43c3-ba0c-dd70b11dbb95&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Comparing James Comey's Firing to Richard Nixon [Watch (HLS stream): Comparing James Comey's Firing to Richard Nixon](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/rzpxxq3y.m3u8) (1:55)  _Published 2017-05-11. When President Trump fired FBI Director James Comey Tuesday, people were quick to cry Nixon._ by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Updated: Dec 13, 2023 8:07 AM UTCPublished: May 15, 2017 5:51 PM UTC When President Trump fired FBI Director James Comey Tuesday, people were quick to cry Nixon. by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Updated: Dec 13, 2023 8:07 AM UTCPublished: May 15, 2017 5:51 PM UTC Deputy Attorney General [Rod Rosenstein](http://time.com/4777259/rod-rosenstein-justice-trump-russia/) is set to brief all members of the U.S. Senate on the [recent firing of FBI Director James Comey](http://time.com/4775430/the-comey-misfire/?xid=homepage). Rosenstein was invited to brief the Senate by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. A McConnell spokesperson said the briefing on Thursday will be classified. Rosenstein has found himself at the center of the backlash over Comey’s sudden firing following a [memo he wrote ](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/09/us/politics/comey-fbi-memo-rod-rosenstein.html)recommending Comey’s dismissal. The White House initially said Rosenstein’s memo, along with a letter from Attorney General Jeff Sessions, led to the firing, but Trump later said he would have fired Comey regardless of their recommendation. In his memo, Rosenstein said he could not defend Comey’s actions during the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server. > [](https://twitter.com/ZekeJMiller/status/864169416761769984) Rosenstein is a [27-year veteran of the U.S. Department of Justice](http://time.com/4777259/rod-rosenstein-justice-trump-russia/), though he had largely been unknown to the wider public prior to Comey’s firing. ## Transcript [00:03] Well I'm not a crook. On October 20th, [00:07] 1973, President Nixon ordered Justice Department [00:09] officials to fire Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox who [00:13] had been appointed to investigate the Watergate [00:13] scandal. Both the attorney general and the deputy [00:15] attorney general refused the president's orders and [00:17] resigned. Nixon's new acting attorney general. Robert [00:19] Bork complied and fired Cox, which effectively [00:22] dismantled the investigation. Cox's firing [00:28] prompted heavy criticism, [00:33] and was seen as a key point [00:38] in the events that led [00:45] to Nixon's eventual resignation. [ MUSIC ] [00:54] I shall resign the presidency effective at noon [00:57] tomorrow. Vice President Ford Will [01:01] be sworn in as president, at that hour, in this office. [01:05] More than 40 years later, the Trump Administration [01:05] has been clouded by an ongoing FBI investigation into [01:05] potential communications between members of his [01:08] campaign, and Russia during the 2016 election. [01:15] The FBI, as part of our counterintelligence [01:19] mission Is investigating the Russian government's [01:23] efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. [01:25] Trump fired James Comey shortly after Comey [01:29] requested more resources for the agency's Russia [01:32] probe. Why did you fire Director Comey? Because he [01:35] wasn't doing a good job, very simply. He was not [01:38] doing a good job. But while many people have drawn [01:40] parallels, historians note the two situations are not [01:40] exactly the same, as Nixon did not fire the head of [01:45] the FBI. 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