Rosenstein Slams Comey, Comey Responds With 5 Words

'I wish him the best,' ex-FBI director says after former deputy AG calls him 'partisan pundit'
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted May 14, 2019 6:57 AM CDT
Rosenstein Slams Comey, Comey Responds With 5 Words
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein speaks during a farewell ceremony at the Department of Justice in Washington on Thursday.   (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

President Trump has had a lot to say about his ex-FBI director and ex-deputy attorney general, but one thing he can't say is that the two former DOJ higher-ups are friends. The latest round between James Comey and Rod Rosenstein took place Monday in Baltimore, where the latter was speaking to local business leaders, per the Wall Street Journal and CNN. Rosenstein—clearly miffed about Comey's recent remarks at a CNN town hall (Comey said Rosenstein lacked "strong character") and Comey's recent op-ed in the New York Times, in which he said Trump ate the souls of people like Rosenstein because they were weak—hit back, saying he understood if Comey was angry at being fired, but that he'd since turned into a "partisan pundit, selling books and earning speaking fees while speculating about the strength of my character and the fate of my immortal soul."

Rosenstein added that "my soul and character are pretty much the same today as they were two years ago" and that "I made the right calls on the things that mattered." That includes the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller to look into Russian interference in the 2016 election, an appointment Rosenstein called "justified" to "protect America from foreign adversaries and preserve public confidence in the long run." Comey wasn't the only one who drew criticism from Rosenstein: In addressing Trump's firing of Comey, Rosenstein noted, "If I had been the decision-maker, the removal would have been handled differently, with far more respect and far less drama." Comey has already responded to Rosenstein's latest volley of words with five short ones of his own, per CNN: "I wish him the best." (More Rod Rosenstein stories.)

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