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The newly appointed second-in-command at the US Justice Department faced a weighty task just two weeks after taking office – writing the rationale for firing FBI Director James Comey.
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein argued the case for Comey's sacking in a three-page memo to Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Tuesday. President Donald Trump acted swiftly to dismiss the director later that day.
Rosenstein cited Comey's controversial public statements about the bureau's investigation into Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server while she was secretary of state.
"It is a textbook example of what federal prosecutors and agents are taught not to do," Rosenstein wrote of Comey's public comments.
Spokespeople for the Department of Justice and the FBI did not return calls seeking comment late Tuesday.
"Why did it happen today?" asked Senate Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, of New York.
The rationale for canning Comey, however, came from a 26-year Justice Department veteran who is widely viewed by his peers and many lawmakers as uncommonly nonpartisan.
Named as Maryland’s top prosecutor by President George W Bush, Rosenstein stayed in office through the Obama administration.
Rosenstein was the longest-serving US attorney when he was nominated by Trump last January.
Bonnie Greenberg, a federal prosecutor in Maryland said in March that Rosenstein was admired as a rare career prosecutor who could insulate himself from political pressure.
"He only does something if he thinks it's right," said Greenberg, who worked with Rosenstein for 11 years.
Before Rosenstein was confirmed for the position by the US Senate, some Democratic lawmakers asked him to pledge he would appoint a special independent prosecutor to investigate allegations of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian officials.
He was easily confirmed despite rebuffing those demands.
Some Republicans have been angered by Comey's public statements about the FBI investigation into possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia.
But Rosenstein's criticism of Comey focused on actions seen to have damaged Democratic candidate Clinton.
That day, Rosenstein wrote, Comey usurped the authority of the US Attorney General – who has authority over whether prosecutions should proceed, based on the quality of FBI investigations.
Comey also violated longstanding practice by "gratuitously" releasing damaging information about Clinton – even as he acknowledged the evidence against her was insufficient to warrant continued investigation, Rosenstein wrote.
US Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the timing of Comey's firing was suspect – coming so long after the election of Trump and Comey's alleged mishandling of the case.
He directly criticised Rosenstein.
Rosenstein, in his letter, cited broad, bipartisan agreement on Comey's errors in judgment.
Last summer, Comey defended his decision to speak publicly about the Clinton investigation, saying “the American people deserve those details in a case of intense public interest”.
Last week, before a Senate committee, Comey defended his decision in October – two weeks before the presidential election – to publicly announce the bureau had discovered new emails that might be related to the closed investigation into Clinton.
Rosenstein wrote that he was perplexed at Comey's continued defences of his handling of the probe.
"I do not understand his refusal to accept the nearly universal judgment that he was mistaken," Rosenstein wrote. "It is one of the few issues that unites people of diverse perspectives."
(This has been published in an arrangement with Reuters)
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