Nearing end of his tenure, Rod Rosenstein hits back at critics

Reporting from Washington —  Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod Rosenstein is taking swipes at his critics as he prepares to leave the Justice Department, using one of his final speeches to defend his handling of the special counsel’s Russia investigation and condemn decisions made before he took the job.

Rosenstein, in an appearance Thursday night before a lawyers’ group, aimed pointed remarks at former FBI Director James B. Comey, lawmakers, political pundits and the media.

The unusually candid remarks laid bare his pent-up feelings after spending the last two years entangled in some of the Trump administration’s most dramatic and consequential moments.

He appointed special counsel Robert S. Mueller III to investigate ties between President Trump’s campaign and Russia, an inquiry that Trump repeatedly called “a witch hunt.” Rosenstein also backed Atty. Gen. William P. Barr’s decision to clear Trump on obstruction; Mueller refused to do so.

Rosenstein tried to distance himself from some actions in the early days of the Russia investigation that he suggested he did not agree with.

“There is a story about firefighters who found a man on a burning bed,” Rosenstein said, according to his prepared remarks at the Armenian Bar Assn.’s Public Servants Dinner in New York. “When they asked how the fire started, he replied, ‘I don’t know. It was on fire when I lay down on it.’ I know the feeling.”

Noting that the FBI had disclosed classified material to lawmakers and their staff, Rosenstein observed how “someone” had selectively leaked details of the Russia investigation to the media. He talked about how Comey had publicly announced the existence of a counterintelligence investigation touching the Trump campaign before Comey later went public with his own allegations against the president.

FULL COVERAGE: Robert Mueller finishes his investigation into President Trump’s 2016 campaign »

Rosenstein also suggested that former President Obama and his team could have done more to warn Americans about Russian election interference in 2016.

“The previous administration chose not to publicize the full story about Russian computer hackers and social media trolls, and how they relate to a broader strategy to undermine America,” Rosenstein said.

Rosenstein is expected to leave his position now that Mueller has submitted his report. The Senate Judiciary Committee held a confirmation hearing this month for Jeffrey Rosen, a longtime litigator and current deputy transportation secretary who has been nominated by Trump to succeed Rosenstein.

Rosenstein did pay tribute to Trump by quoting him on adherence to the rule of law. But Rosenstein also broke with the president in several notable ways. He said “there is not Republican justice and Democrat justice,” contrasting himself with a president who referred to the Mueller team as being compromised of “angry Democrats” and who, according to Mueller’s report, has viewed the Justice Department as a tool for punishing political adversaries.

RELATED: See how much of the Mueller report was redacted »

He also made clear that the Mueller investigation had exposed a sophisticated Russian operation to meddle in American politics, something Trump has been slow to acknowledge.

“There was overwhelming evidence that Russian operatives hacked American computers and defrauded American citizens, and that is only the tip of the iceberg of a comprehensive Russian strategy to influence elections, promote social discord and undermine America, just like they do in many other countries,” Rosenstein said.

In his speech, Rosenstein lashed out at “mercenary critics” who “get paid to express passionate opinions” and who, he said, have attacked him without any information. He said politicians in Washington feel the “need to evaluate everything in terms of the immediate political impact.”

The news media weren’t spared his criticism.

“A republic that endures is not governed by the news cycle,” he said. “Some of the nonsense that passes for breaking news today would not be worth the paper was printed on, if anybody bothered to print it. It quickly fades away. The principles are what abide.”