Trump deserves credit for Justice Dept. nominees, says US deputy AG
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein spoke about Justice Department nominees while speaking to a bar association seminar in midtown Manhattan on Wednesday. Credit: Jeff Bachner
U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein praised President Donald Trump for his Justice Department nominations and pushed for faster Senate confirmation of the nominees.
Trump has nominated heads for the department’s criminal, environmental, civil rights and civil divisions, but they have yet to be confirmed.
“President Trump deserves great credit for nominating champions of the rule of law,” said Rosenstein, while speaking in midtown Manhattan to a bar association seminar about white-collar crime.
Trump’s nominee to head the criminal division is Brian Benczkowski, a former congressional aide to Jeff Sessions, who is now U.S. Attorney General.
Democrats have criticized that Trump pick and others, saying Benczkowski has little criminal law experience and his appointment could undermine special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Benczkowski has said he previously worked on behalf of a Russian bank with ties to President Vladimir Putin.
Last May, Rosenstein appointed Mueller as special counsel to probe alleged Russian election interference. Rosenstein did not refer to the Mueller investigation in his remarks Wednesday.
Other nominees awaiting confirmation are Jeffrey Clark, for the department’s environmental division; Eric Dreiband for the civil rights division; and Jody Hunt for the civil division, Rosenstein said Wednesday.
Senate Democrats and their allies have sought to stop the Trump picks from advancing.
For instance, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) said in October that Dreiband “has routinely criticized the very laws he would be enforcing,” and the group People for the American Way said in January that he was a “startlingly inappropriate choice” with no experience on topics the division addressed like voting rights, hate crimes and police-community relations.
Rosenstein said on Wednesday: “Each nominee meets or exceeds the qualifications normally required for those important jobs.”
Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.
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