CNN reported that Trump wanted the Justice Department to appoint a special attorney to examine his false allegations of vote fraud. Trump has also discussed getting the department to appoint a special attorney to investigate Hunter Biden, son of new President Joe Biden.
The Justice Department said no special counsel has been appointed in the past month.
Rosen’s departure gives way to an unusual deal to start the Biden administration.
On Wednesday, Monty Wilkinson, a career Justice Department attorney and former deputy director of Eric Holder’s office, is expected to be acting attorney general until Biden’s candidate, Merrick Garland, is confirmed. respect. Wilkinson is Deputy Attorney General for Human Resources and Administration.
And for a few hours until Biden signs an executive order to appoint Wilkinson, John Demers, deputy attorney general for the National Security Division, will act as acting attorney general.
With the departure of Rosen, Demers would normally be the acting attorney general. But Biden relies on a Trump-era legal opinion that installed Matt Whitaker as acting attorney general after Trump fired Jeff Sessions. Democrats questioned the legality of that appointment, but now Biden uses that precedent to appoint Wilkinson as acting attorney general.
Demers will remain for a time under Biden in the Justice Department independently. Under U.S. law, a Senate-confirmed official must serve at all times as an attorney general to deal with sensitive national security issues. Demers will be ultimately responsible for approving FISA orders.
Rosen is a former white-collar, corporate lawyer who kept a relatively low profile while William Barr took the spotlight as a fierce Trump advocate, before finally exposing the lie of Trump’s vote fraud claims.
After Barr’s departure, critics feared Rosen would succumb to pressure from the White House. But despite requests from Trump personally and other White House officials, Rosen refused.
Rosen also spoke about the attack on the U.S. Capitol and helped monitor the federal law enforcement response to get the inauguration.