Passengers and crew. Annexing crimea, invading ukraine, killing journalists, propping up assad, the butcher of damascus, build the berlin wall, imposing an iron curtain against freedom, and committing cyber theft and conspiring and doing a sabotage of the american president ial election in 2016. Perhaps our friends on the other side of the aisle can show more respect for the fbi and the doj, as so many of us do, including myself. So let me ask these questions and with my limited time, i really need just a yes or no. Are you in the business of helping to secure the elections in 2018 and making sure that there is an infrastructure in the doj to help states have secure elections . Yes or no . Yes. Special counsel mueller, im reminded, some of us would say, we read it in the history books, of the saturday night massacre. I know you must be aware of it. During the meeting of may 8th, 2018, with you, sessions, and the president , the day before comey was fired, what did you discuss regarding the fbi investigation . Congresswoman, as i explained previously, im not going to be discussing anything related to that until after the investigation. Thank you very much, mr. Deputy attorney general. Let me then go forward with the question of the protection of the special prosecutor. Do you have in place a protection scheme or system that would void a potential saturday night massacre . Do you, in fact, have the authority to stand up against the president , who is putting out the rightwing media to taint the Mueller Investigation . Will you protect mr. Mueller if he deserves protection and has done nothing to violate his duties and responsibilities . As ive explained, if he hasnt violated is that yes or no, mr. Deputy attorney general . I wont take any action, unless hes violated his duties. Let me show you these individuals here. It says that the trump accusers want a day in court or at least want to be heard. The president is the chief executive and Law Enforcement officer of the United States. Therefore, he is an officer of the United States. What the department of justice, what intentions do you have to allow these women who are accusing the president of Sexual Misconduct and have never been heard in terms of a public setting, as many of us on this committee, women on this committee, Democratic Women on this committee have asked this committee to hold a hearing for these women, what does the department of justice intend to do given the fact that the president is the chief Law Enforcement officer of the United States of america . I dont think i have any position on that, congresswoman. If they file a lawsuit, theyre free to do so. It wouldnt be a department matter. Would you not believe that its important to give these women a forum to be heard . I just gave a long litany of the great successes of the department of justice. Can we refer these women to the department of justice, if they walked up to the department of justice, would there be an intake officer, an fbi officer that would take their complaints . If somebody wants to file a complaint of a potential federal crime, yes, they can report that to the fbi or they can write. Anybody can do that at any time. Well, then let me publicly say to these women. You have one option athis time, is to go to the department of justice, as the Deputy Attorney general has just said to us, to be able to file a complaint. And i would encourage them to do that. I would also encourage this hearing, as well, to do this committee to have hearings. Let me ask this last question regarding the whole commutation and the memo by attorney general sessions that rescinds memos regarding the charging and sentencing policy and also the use of private prisons. That was by eric holder. What is the position of the u. S. Department of justice as it relates to a fair and just commutation program . And also, the issues dealing with overprosecution and the sentencing policy that was offered by erik holdc holder th considered fair and just, and the use of private prisons have known to be abusive to prisoners and do not allow foela requests to go forward. Time of the gentlemen has expired. The Deputy Attorney general may answer the question. Thank you. You raise a number of issues, congresswoman. I dont know that i have time to respond to them all. But i want to clarify, anybody is free to report to the department of justice when they believe a crime has been committed. Its not a complaint, in the way you might file a complaint in some local police departments. Youre free to report any allegations, and the department will conduct an appropriate review, as we do with any allegations of alleged criminal conduct. We initiate investigations, though, only if we determine theres proper predication under our policies. Well, im yielding back, mr. Chairman, but he did not answer my question. The time of the gentlemen has already expired. The chair recognizes the gentlemen from california, mr. Issa, for five minutes. Thank you. Deputy attorney general, if someone comes in to make that complaint or file that information, theyre going to have their identification che checked for who they are, right, to get into the building . Im not certain if they were to if they were admitted to the building, you can actually walk into most fbi offices, i think, without having to go through security but you wouldnt consider it draconian that if while theyre filing this complaint or allegation that their drivers license was looked at, would you . Well, if were going to conduct an investigation, we need to know who the witnesses are. Thank you, i just wanted to know that that wasnt draconian. In the case of mr. Strzok, you know, there was an appearance of impropriety that people are observing, but you had said, well, there may not have been the reason. But if it wasnt the appearance of impropriety based on his numerous rather strident tweets or not tweets, but texts, commenting adversely on the president , what was it . If i said that, congressman, it was inadvertent. The decision to remove mr. Strzok off that case was made by director mueller, based upon the circumstances known to him. Its important to understand, though, that those Text Messages were uncovered in the case of an Inspector General investigation thats not complete. So we wont be able to make a determination about what, if any, discipline is required. Let me go to the Inspector General now. This is michael horowitz, right . Correct. Michael horowitz has repeatedly complained that he cannot, in fact he does not have the authority to look for impropriety by lawyers, as to their conduct as lawyers, because the office of the opr has that authority. Thats still true, isnt it . Its true, but he does have authority for certain types of misconduct by lawyers. Okay. So we have a situation in which you can look at some of the misconduct, not others. So one of the pieces of misconduct he cannot look at would be the question of bias or the appearance of bias in their investigations. In how theyre conducting it and or decisions. That is uniquely exclude to the Inspector General in your cabinet position versus all other cabinet positions. Im not certain about that. And if i may, ill check and get back to you on that. But he is excluded . It would either be opr or the Inspector General. And with regard to conflicts of interest, i believe certain of those are within the jurisdiction of the Inspector General, but i would have to verify. You can get back to me on that. These political views that mr. Chabot mentioned. Its pretty clear that these are people who had a strong preference, but notwithstanding that, lets be very candid. Nobody up here is going to claim to be without their political bias. So one of the reasons that when there is a conflict of interest, people recuse themselves, and when there is an appearance of impropriety, their exaccuscused. And one of the reasons we look to a special prosecutor and why you appointed a special prosecutor is to not only get past the politics on this dais, but to get past the appearance of any conflict by the department of justice, is that fair to say . To mimnimize any appearance n either side of bias, thats correct. Okay. But the special prosecutor under the remaining statute, how its done, is still a group looking for wrongdoing. That is their charge. Theyre not looking for rightdoing, theyre looking for wrongdoing. Thats fair to say. Like any prosecutor, youre not lacking for innocence . The way i would characterize it, congressman, theyre looking for the truth and then theyll make a determination about whether or not its appropriate to prosecute. Okay. So my question to you is, if thats the case, if we accept that my assumption that theyre looking the to if they can, to hang the president or people around him, hear me out for a moment, then there really isnt a problem with having people that are deadset on trying to find anything that will incriminate the administration in a russian connection, which is somewhat their charge. So ill posture to you that maybe its not that bad who have people that really dislike the president and would like to hang him. Having said that, when theres impropriety, such as mr. Strzok, when there is, in fact, a history at the fbi of withholding information from congress. When there is the appearance of impropriety by the department of justice. And when the Inspector General is limited under the statute, both because he doesnt have full access and because certain portions are out, wouldnt you say that this is a classic example, where in order to investigate the fbi and the department of justice, a special prosecutor who is equally lackilack i looking for the truth, if it exists adversely, to the conduct of the fbi and the department of justice, is within your charge and responsibility to see that it happens . Time of the gentlemen has expi expired. Theres a number of assumptions, congressman, and my simple answer to it would be, if we believe there was a basis for an investigation or a special counsel, i can assure that we would act. Mr. Chairman, i would say that since weve already had zpl dismissals for wrongdoing, since theres ongoing internal investigations, the elements necessary to ask for a special prosecutor to, in fact, see what was done wrong, already existed. Time of the gentlemen has expired. The chair recognizes the gentlemen from tennessee, mr. Cohen for five minutes. Thank you, mr. Chairman. First, i want to thank you for your service to the country and accepting the difficult situation under the difficult circumstances that you have. Has President Trump ever communicated with you about removing Robert Mueller from his role as special counsel . Congressman, i am not going to be discussing my communications with the president , but i can tell you that nobody has communicated to me a desire to remove Robert Mueller. You said youre not going to relate your conversations with President Trump. How many conversations have you had since your appointment with President Trump . Im the Deputy Attorney general, congressman, and its appropriate for me to talk with the president about Law Enforcement issues. And i dont believe thats an appropriate issue for discussio discussion. When you chose Robert Mueller to be the special counsel, what were his characteristics, his history, and the reasons for you to have chosen him for this important position . I think it would be very difficult, congressman, for anybody to find somebody Better Qualified for this job. Director mueller has, throughout his lifetime, been a dedicated and respected and heroic Public Servant. He, after college, volunteered to serve as a marine in vietnam, where he was wounded in combat. He attended law school and then devoted most of his career to serving as a federal prosecutor, with the exception of brief stints in private practice, he served as United States attorney in two districts in massachusetts and in northern california. He served in many other positions in the department, after he lost his position as the head of the Criminal Division when president clinton was elected in 1992, he briefly went into private practice and then he went back at an entrylevel position, as a homicide prosecutor, trying to help with the Violent Crime problem in the district of columbia in the early 1990s. He then rose once again through the ranks and ultimately was confirmed, i believe unanimously, as fbi director and protected this nation after 9 11. And then, when his tenyear term expired, he was so wellrespected, his term was extended, i believe also unanimously, for another two careers. So i believe based on his reputation, his service, his patriotism, and his experience with the department and with the fbi, i believe he was an ideal choice for this task. Thank you, sir. I agree with you. Fbi director wray agrees with you. He said similar thought. He said he was a smart lawyer, a dedicated Public Servant and well respected in the fbi. I think everybody on the other side of the aisle agreed with you when you appointed him. Ad everybody in this Judiciary Committee and probably everybody in this congress agreed with this has appointment as fbi director, which was unanimous. His reappointment, which was unanimous, by republican bush and democrat obama. Everybody respects that man in this country. I didnt. I dont. He is the most respected man in this obviously, we knew that would be an exception. But the fact is, they didnt start to dislike him until he started to get issues that affected the president that currently serves this country. And because of that, theyve said the fbi was in tatters, that the fbi, the chief Law Enforcement, top Law Enforcement folks in this country, are questionable. Some of their allies on television said theyre like the kgb. Theyve questioned you, questioned the Justice Department, that i have question theyve questioned some of the most loyal, dedicated, fearle lesles people in our country. And i find it repugnant. And what do you think that they say that theres something wrong with the fbi and that theyre like the kgb . Congressman, as i know youre aware, ive expressed concerns with certain aspects of certain things done by the fbi. But in general, throughout my experience working with fbi agents throughout the decades, ive found them to be an Exceptional Group of Public Servants, very loyal, faithful, and dedicated. And i believe some of the finest people that i know are agents of the federal bureau of investigation. I thought about them, sir, when i warmed the army navy game. And i thought about them, because i have the honor, as everybody up here has, of recommending some folks to be at west point and annapolis. Those are the cream of the crop. And the people at the fbi in Law Enforcement, heir the cream of the crop. And Justice Department attorneys are, too. Its not easy to get a job in justice, no matter where you went to law school and what you did. You hired the best. And you always have. And i compliment you on that. I hope and i know you will continue to hold the department of justice up as a pantheon of outstanding lawyers and jurists and take justice where it should go, as truth demands and justice dictates. I yield back the balance of my time. The chair recognizes the gentlemen from iowa, mr. King for five minutes. Thank you, mr. Chairman. And thank you, mr. Rosenstein for your testimony here and your service. A number of things im curious about here. First of all, in the interview of Hillary Clinton that took place reportedly july 2nd of 16, how many people were in the room for that . How many people had the opportunity to question her . Congressman, i do not know the answer to that. I believe when the Inspector General completes his review, we may have additional information, but i personally do not know. And would you know who selected that team . No, i do not. Really . Okay. I recall the testimony here by james comey and also by then attorney general Loretta Lynch that testified, one of the two of them, that there were three representatives of the fbi and three representatives of doj in that room during that interview, would that be consistent with practices that you would anticipate . Am i going to hear ig again . Typically, we would have at least two agents conduct an interview. And there may be any number of attorneys based on whos on the case, i dont know the details of that particular decision. And a practice in an interview like that, would there be records kept of that interview . Yes, if there were fbi agents present, typically they would take notes and produce a report summarizing the interview. Would there be a videotape, audio tape or transcript . Generally, though. Why not . Its just not in the practice to do it. It needs to become the practice. The practice out across the countryside, many of our local Law Enforcement is if youre a county deputy and you interview somebody for drunk driving, you tape that interview. And we have sheriffs out there that will say, if they dont do, thats cause for discipline. Now were sitting here with a mystery on what went on in that interview of july 2nd and as many questions have been asked about that before and after and they there trickle through history until we get to the bottom of it. We dont know who was in the room. Do you have any knowledge if peter strzok may have been one of those people . I do not know. Its been reported in the news that he m