Rod Rosenstein, the US deputy attorney general who oversaw the special counsel inquiry into President Donald Trump's campaign and Russia, has resigned.

Mr Rosenstein, who had a fraught working relationship with Mr Trump, will step down on 11 May in a departure that had been expected for months.

In his letter, he paid tribute to Mr Trump, even praising the president's "courtesy and humour".

Mr Trump once tweeted an image showing Mr Rosenstein jailed for treason.

Mr Rosenstein - who was originally appointed by Republican President George W Bush - had been expected to resign in March following the appointment of William Barr as attorney general.

But the justice department second-in-command stayed in the job a while longer to help Mr Barr manage a redacted public release of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation.

The report did not determine that the Trump campaign had conspired with Russia to sway the 2016 election, but did not exonerate the president of obstruction of justice.
In his letter, Mr Rosenstein praises some of what he calls the Department of Justice's achievements and its employees' "devotion to duty".

"I am grateful to you for the opportunity to serve; for the courtesy and humour you often display in our personal conversations; and for the goals you set in your inaugural address: patriotism, unity, safety, education, and prosperity," he wrote, addressing the president directly.

Source: BBC

BDST: 1514 HRS, APR 30, 2019
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