--- title: Rod Rosenstein Isn't Recusing Himself From Russia Probe description: The Department of Justice says the Deputy AG is not preparing to recuse himself as has been suggested in some reports. canonical: https://time.com/4822251/rod-rosenstein-russia-investigation-recusal-donald-trump/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-06-16T19:59:56.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T16:11:47.880Z article:section: Politics og:title: Justice Department: Rosenstein Isn't Recusing Himself From Russia Investigation og:description: The Department of Justice says the Deputy AG is not preparing to recuse himself og:url: https://time.com/4822251/rod-rosenstein-russia-investigation-recusal-donald-trump/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9b7b86eeca6793ba/6988d2204ee262246830dc53/gettyimages-695595202.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein Testifies To Committee On Justice Dept.'s Budget og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Justice Department: Rosenstein Isn't Recusing Himself From Russia Investigation twitter:description: The Department of Justice says the Deputy AG is not preparing to recuse himself twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9b7b86eeca6793ba/6988d2204ee262246830dc53/gettyimages-695595202.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Justice Department Says Rod Rosenstein Isn't Recusing Himself From Russia Investigation by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Jun 16, 2017 7:59 PM UTC  Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein testifies during a Senate Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Subcommittee hearing on the Justice Department's proposed FY18 budget on Capitol Hill on June 13, 2017 in Washington, D.C. Zach Gibson—Getty Images Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein testifies during a Senate Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Subcommittee hearing on the Justice Department's proposed FY18 budget on Capitol Hill on June 13, 2017 in Washington, D.C. Zach Gibson—Getty ImagesZach Gibson—Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Jun 16, 2017 7:59 PM UTC Deputy Attorney General [Rod Rosenstein](http://time.com/4777259/rod-rosenstein-justice-trump-russia/?iid=sr-link1) faced a public attack by President Donald Trump on Friday over the ongoing investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, but the Department of Justice says Rosenstein is not preparing to recuse himself as has been suggested in reports. “As the deputy attorney general has said numerous times, if there comes a point when he needs to recuse, he will. However, nothing has changed,” DOJ spokesman Ian Prior said in a statement, according to the [Washington _Post._](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/deputy-attorney-general-rosenstein-sees-no-reason-to-recuse-himself-from-russia-probe-justice-department-says/2017/06/16/ba1dafd4-52ae-11e7-91eb-9611861a988f%5Fstory.html?tid=sm%5Ftw&utm%5Fterm=.4bdf633cb0d3) [ABC _News_](http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/deputy-attorney-general-privately-acknowledges-recuse-russia-probe/story?id=48080253) reported Friday that sources within the Department of Justice said Rosenstein had acknowleged that he could have to recuse himself in a meeting with colleagues. Rosenstein is overseeing the investigation into Russian meddling, though it is being spearheaded by a special prosecutor, Robert Mueller. Because the investigation now includes questions about whether or not President Donald Trump may have obstructed justice in conversations with former FBI Director James Comey who he later fired, Rosenstein’s involvement has come under scrutiny. Rosenstein penned a letter outlining why he thought Comey could be let go, a letter the president reportedly asked him to write. President Donald Trump suggested that there was some hypocrisy in Rosenstein’s involvement in a tweet on Friday, saying “I am being investigated for firing the FBI Director by the man who told me to fire the FBI Director! Witch Hunt” > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/875701471999864833) Earlier this week, the president called the investigation the “greatest WITCH HUNT in American political history” and said it was being led by “some very bad and conflicted people.” > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/875321478849363968) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4822251/rod-rosenstein-russia-investigation-recusal-donald-trump/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4822251/rod-rosenstein-russia-investigation-recusal-donald-trump/"},"headline":"Justice Department Says Rod Rosenstein Isn't Recusing Himself From Russia Investigation","datePublished":"2017-06-16T19:59:56.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T16:11:47.880Z","description":"The Department of Justice says the Deputy AG is not preparing to recuse himself","url":"https://time.com/4822251/rod-rosenstein-russia-investigation-recusal-donald-trump/","keywords":["Department of Justice","White House","Justice Department","Donald Trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9b7b86eeca6793ba/6988d2204ee262246830dc53/gettyimages-695595202.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9b7b86eeca6793ba/6988d2204ee262246830dc53/gettyimages-695595202.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein Testifies To Committee On Justice Dept.'s Budget","caption":"Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein Testifies To Committee On Justice Dept.'s Budget","creditText":"Zach Gibson—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/department-of-justice/","name":"Department of Justice"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4822251/rod-rosenstein-russia-investigation-recusal-donald-trump/","name":"Justice Department Says Rod Rosenstein Isn't Recusing Himself From Russia Investigation"}}]}] ```