A Justice Department official - who declined to speak on the record - told CNN that the White House didn't order Rosenstein's statement.
President Donald Trump acknowledged on Friday he is under investigation in a probe of alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 USA presidential race and possible collusion by his campaign - and seemed to assail the Justice Department official overseeing the inquiry.
The future of Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, came under doubt Friday when Trump attacked him in a tweet and a US official confirmed that Rosenstein has told colleagues he may have to recuse himself from the inquiry because he'd criticized James Comey in a memo before Trump fired the former Federal Bureau of Investigation director.
He said: "I am being investigated for firing the FBI Director by the man who told me to fire the FBI Director!"
When Trump fired Comey, Rosenstein drafted a memo accusing the FBI director of bungling the investigation into Hillary Clinton's email server, and Sessions wrote a letter saying the dismissal was warranted.
Richard Painter, who served as President George W. Bush's chief ethics lawyer from 2005 to 2007, told The News it wasn't a slam-dunk that Trump's latest tweet would help the building of potential obstruction justice case against Trump - but he said it definitely wouldn't help Trump either.
The mighty Casey strikes out on 14th
Schauffele had a chance to tie Fowler for the lead until his 12-foot birdie putt on the par-three ninth slid by on the right. Casey birdied five holes in a row after the rough stretch and was the first player in the clubhouse at seven-under.
The Republican president has repeatedly complained about the probe, calling it a witch hunt and saying Democrats can not accept his election victory. He said this week he had not found reason to do so - making the statement in the days after Trump's friends raised the possibility that the president himself was thinking of "terminating" Mueller. Regulations way down, jobs and enthusiasm way up!
Comey's testimony - given under oath before the Senate Intelligence Committee - could be material to Mueller's determination if indeed, Trump could be held criminally liable for obstruction of justice. That ended the moment President Trump began tweeting about the special counsel's investigation into Russian meddling in the election and reportedly into the president himself. An aide familiar with the meeting said it was held to discuss the investigations, including ways that the parallel inquiries don't interfere with or overlap one another.
Starr's op-ed follows comments he made on CNN's "New Day" Thursday morning in which he said there is now no obstruction of justice case against Trump, based on the evidence that has been made public so far. Some of his ire is aimed at Rosenstein and investigative special counsel Robert Mueller, both of whom the president believes are biased against him, associates say. The Russian bank, Vnesheconombank, which has been the subject of USA sanctions following Russia's annexation of Crimea, has said the session was held for business reasons because of Kushner's role as head of his family's real estate company.
Meanwhile, Mueller has sought interviews with three Trump administration officials who weren't involved in Trump's campaign.
He followed that post up by calling the Russian Federation probe "the single greatest WITCH HUNT in American political history - led by some very bad and conflicted people!" Investigators have also been looking for any evidence of possible financial crimes among Trump associates, officials said.
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