Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is on Capitol Hill Thursday to speak with leaders of the Senate intelligence committee.
A Justice Department official confirmed the meeting, but did not specify the topic. Dana Boente, the acting director of DOJ’s national security division, is also present.
Senate intelligence chairman Richard Burr, R-North Carolina, and vice chairman Mark Warner, D-Virginia, both left a hearing with acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe for the meeting.
Rosenstein wrote a memo that the White House has used as justification for firing FBI Director James Comey on Tuesday. But he has also expressed frustration at how the White House handled the Comey dismissal, and using his reputation as cover for how it was done, sources familiar with the matter tell CNN.
Vice President Mike Pence and deputy White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Wednesday repeatedly cited Rosenstein’s memo on Comey recommending the FBI director’s removal, leveraging his reputation and bipartisan Senate confirmation vote.
This story is breaking and will be updated.