If Trump Fires Rosenstein, This Man Could End Up With Power Over the Russia Investigation
He has virtually no criminal law experience but has worked for a bank with ties to Vladimir Putin.
PEMA LEVY APR. 11, 2018 6:00 AM



Brian Benczkowski, nominated to a top Justice Department post, speaking with his former boss, then-Sen. Jeff Sessions, on Capitol Hill in June 2009. Harry Hamburg/AP

The FBI raid of the home, office, and hotel room of President Donald Trump’s personal attorney has prompted speculation that Trump may fire top Justice Department officials in an attempt to gain control over the special counsel investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. One official who could end up with significant power over the investigation is Trump’s nominee to lead the department’s criminal division—a man with no prosecutorial experience who has worked on behalf of a Russian bank with ties to Vladimir Putin.

The Senate is currently considering the nomination of Brian Benczkowski to run the criminal division, which has jurisdiction over criminal laws like those explored in the special counsel probe and a say in US attorney actions like the search warrant for Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen. Benczkowski, a former congressional aide to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, would come to the job with an unusual résumé. Unlike all his recent predecessors, he has never been a prosecutor and has virtually no experience in criminal law. Moreover, he was recently a lawyer for Alfa Bank, run by oligarchs with connections to Putin. This background, along with his close ties to Sessions and the Trump team, has Democrats worried that Benczkowski’s appointment could interfere with special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.

***

If confirmed, Benczkowski would arrive at the job at a critical time for the Mueller probe. Sessions recused himself from the investigation, though he has involved himself in matters related to the probe, in apparent violation of his recusal. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who personally approved the raid on Cohen, is currently overseeing the probe, but Trump has mulled firing him. The third-ranking Justice Department official, Rachel Brand, who would inherit oversight of the investigation if Rosenstein were removed, left her post early this year, and it still has not been permanently filled. The person next in line to oversee the investigation is Solicitor General Noel Francisco, a conservative lawyer who has expressed skepticism in the past of special counsel investigations.

But if Rosenstein is fired, there are other ways Trump could fill the leadership void. One would be to put Benczkowski in Brand or Rosenstein’s position, giving him control over the special counsel investigation. The Federal Vacancies Reform Act allows the president to temporarily appoint any Senate-confirmed official to another administration job. If Trump deems Benczkowski sufficiently loyal to the administration, he could potentially see the criminal division chief as the safest bet.