No. 3 lawyer at Justice Department is leaving; what does it mean for the special counsel probe?
Rachel Brand/Wikipedia
Associate Attorney General Rachel Brand, the third-highest ranking official at the Justice Department, is leaving for a top position with Walmart.
Brand would have overseen the special counsel investigation of Russian influence in the 2016 presidential election if Deputy Attorney Rod Rosenstein had left the agency. She will become executive vice president for global governance at Walmart, report the National Law Journal, the New York Times, Politico and the Washington Post.
Rosenstein had approved the extension of surveillance on Carter Page, a former campaign adviser for Donald Trump. Page’s surveillance was the subject of a GOP memo alleging abuses in the application process. The memo had said a Democratic-financed dossier was an “essential part” of the application for the warrant, though the court that approved the memo was not told of the funding.
After release of the memo, a reporter asked the president whether he still had confidence in Rosenstein. Trump replied, “You figure that one out.”
If Rosenstein leaves, the next person in line to oversee the special counsel probe is Solicitor General Noel Francisco, according to University of Texas law professor Steve Vladeck, who wrote a column for NBC. According to Vladeck, “Brand was an official generally perceived to be deeply faithful to the rule of law—and therefore unlikely to interfere with Mueller’s investigation without good cause.”
According to the Post, Brand’s departure surprised many people who knew her. WilmerHale partner Jamie Gorelick, who had worked with Brand when she was also a partner at the firm, told the National Law Journal that the new job is a “perfect fit” for her.
“She didn’t seek this out, they sought her out,” Gorelick said. ”It was something she could not turn down.”
Brand was chief counsel for regulatory litigation at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce before joining the Justice Department less than nine months ago. She previously worked in the Justice Department during the Bush administration as assistant attorney general for the Office of Legal Policy.
According to Politico, Brand has been discussed as a potential judicial nominee. “Leaving the administration might help her avoid controversy that could complicate any future nomination,” the article reports.
