Rod Rosenstein

From Grokipedia

Rod J. Rosenstein (born January 13, 1965) is an American attorney and former prosecutor who served as the 37th United States Deputy Attorney General from April 2017 to May 2019. Appointed by President Donald Trump, he acted as the Department of Justice's second-ranking official during a period of intense scrutiny over federal investigations into Russian election interference and related matters. Prior to his national role, Rosenstein held the position of United States Attorney for the District of Maryland from 2005 to 2017, becoming the longest-serving U.S. Attorney in the nation at the end of his tenure, during which he oversaw prosecutions of public corruption, violent crime, and financial fraud cases. Rosenstein's early career included service as a trial attorney in the DOJ's Public Integrity Section, principal deputy assistant attorney general in the Tax Division, and counsel to Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick, accumulating nearly three decades of experience in federal law enforcement before his elevation. As Deputy Attorney General, he authored a memorandum critiquing FBI Director James Comey's handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation, which provided the basis for Comey's dismissal by President Trump on May 9, 2017. Eight days later, Rosenstein appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and potential obstruction of justice. His oversight of the FBI's Crossfire Hurricane investigation drew significant controversy, including his approval of three renewals of a FISA warrant to surveil Trump campaign adviser Carter Page, which a subsequent DOJ Inspector General report identified as containing multiple inaccuracies and omissions in supporting affidavits. Rosenstein later testified that, with knowledge of those flaws, he would not have signed the final renewal. Following his departure from the DOJ, Rosenstein transitioned to private practice, joining the law firm King & Spalding in 2020 before moving to Baker McKenzie in 2025, where he advises on complex civil and criminal matters.

In brief

Rod Rosenstein spent most of his professional life as a federal prosecutor, long enough that by 2017 he was the country’s longest-serving U.S. attorney. The Senate then confirmed him as deputy attorney general, the department’s operating chief.

Those years put a line prosecutor in the middle of the most watched investigations in America. He left the building as he had entered it — a lawyer who treated process as the point, not the sideshow.