Rosenstein: Trump ‘Has Not Directed’ DOJ To Investigate ‘Particular People’

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, testifies during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing about the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, June 7, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, testifies during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing about the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, June 7, 2017, in Washington. The nation's ... Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, testifies during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing about the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, June 7, 2017, in Washington. The nation's intelligence chiefs, facing questions from Congress one day before former FBI Director James Comey provides his first public account of the events leading up to his firing, declined to describe conversations with President Donald Trump but said they had not been directed to do anything they considered illegal or felt pressured to do so. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) MORE LESS
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Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein on Sunday said President Donald Trump has not given the Justice Department orders to investigate specific people of his choosing.

Asked on “Fox News Sunday” about Trump’s call on Thursday for federal prosecutors to investigate Hillary Clinton, Rosenstein said, “I can assure you that we are going to do the right thing and follow the rule of law.”

During a rally in West Virginia on Thursday night, Trump suggested that Clinton should be the one under investigation instead of his campaign.

“What the prosecutors should be looking at are Hillary Clinton’s 33,000 deleted emails,” Trump said.

“When he says, ‘here’s what prosecutors should be doing, they should be looking at Hillary Clinton,’ do you view that as an order?” Fox News’ Chris Wallace pressed Rosenstein.

“No, Chris. I view what the President says publicly as something he said publicly,” Rosenstein replied. “If the President wants to give orders to us in the department, he does that privately, and then if we have any feedback we provide it to him.”

“I can tell you the President has not directed us to investigate particular people,” he added. “That wouldn’t be right. That’s not the way we operate.”

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