But it was released shortly after The Washington Post reported - citing unnamed U.S. officials familiar with the matter - that the business dealings of President Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, are being investigated by Justice Department special counsel Robert Mueller, who has been investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 election and the Trump administration's potential ties to Russia.
In an early morning tweet, the president said Robert Mueller, special counsel probing Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, is investigating his role in Comey's dismissal. Trump later told NBC's Lester Holt he had planned to fire Comey regardless of what recommendation he received from Rosenstein and Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who has recused himself from the Russian Federation investigation.
While Mr Rosenstein appointed Mr Mueller as a special counsel to oversee the investigation, it is possible that he could be called as a witness as part of the investigation.
Earlier this week, The Washington Post reported Mueller was investigating the possibility the President obstructed justice by suggesting then-FBI Director James Comey drop an FBI investigation into Michael Flynn.
Trump also criticized the change in focus of the investigation on Thursday, saying that it was run by "some very bad and conflicted people!".
But Sessions is recused entirely from the Russian Federation investigation - that was reason why Rosenstein, the second-ranking official at the Justice Department, had the authority to hire the special counsel - so it's unlikely that he could be the person investigating Trump.
The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that Mueller is investigating possible obstruction of justice by Trump.
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Sessions said only the president has to power to invoke executive privilege but explained that neither he nor Trump had made a decision to do so. "Witch Hunt", Trump said in a Twitter message.
Pence hired Richard Cullen, chairman of law firm McGuireWoods and a former federal prosecutor who has long ties to Comey, to help him respond to inquiries from Mueller, a spokesman said.
Trump's tweet could force Rosenstein's recusal in the Mueller investigation, according to a Bloomberg View article by Harvard law professor Noah Feldman.
Since his father-in-law took office, he has been involved in a range of White House matters, from Middle East peace talks to business deregulation discussions.
"They made up a phony collusion with the Russians story, found zero proof, so now they go for obstruction of justice on the phony story", he wrote on Twitter.
In recent weeks, there has been a lot of reporting that Trump has grown frustrated that there is a "Russia cloud" hovering over his presidency and wants to find a way to remove it.
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