It won't be enough if Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein stays on until special counsel Robert Mueller releases his report on Russian meddling during the 2016 presidential election, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff said Thursday.
“If the new leadership in the Justice Department is inclined to bury the report, I would hope he would stay and fight to make sure the Congress and the country get to see what Bob Mueller has found," the California Democrat told CNN's "New Day."
It was initially reported earlier this week that Rosenstein plans to leave the Department of Justice after President Donald Trump's nominee for attorney general, William Barr, is confirmed.
However, NBC News reported Wednesday that Rosenstein will leave after Mueller wraps up most of his investigation, citing sources who said he plans to stay until early March.
He also said he's "very concerned" about Trump's nominee for attorney general, William Barr, taking charge of the investigation.
“That ought to trouble every American devoted to the rule of law," said Schiff.
Schiff also commented on news reports that former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort had tried to share polling data from the 2016 presidential campaign with a pair of Ukrainian oligarchs who owed him $2.4 million.
"It's pretty shocking," said Schiff. "You think you're not capable of being shocked anymore and you continue to learn things that take your breath away."
He said there are several questions remaining though, including why Russia would have wanted the polling information, but he stopped short of saying the revelation was evidence of Russian collusion.
"I think we need to know more about what this data was to be used for," said Schiff.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.