U.S. deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein resigns

U.S. deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein submitted his resignation Monday, ending a two-year run defined by his appointment of a special counsel to investigate connections between Donald Trump's presidential campaign and Russia. His last day will be May 11.

The departure had been expected since the confirmation of William Barr as attorney general in February.

Rosenstein intended to leave in mid-March but stayed on a little longer for the completion of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. Mueller submitted his report to the Justice Department last month. Rosenstein and Barr concluded that Trump did not obstruct justice.

Rosenstein, who appointed Mueller in 2017 following the recusal of then-attorney general Jeff Sessions, had overseen his team's work for much of the last two years.

He also defended the investigation against attacks from congressional Republicans and Trump, who oftenblasted it as a "witch hunt." In so doing, Rosenstein sometimes found himself at odds with Trump but was nonetheless spared the brunt of anger directed at Sessions, whose recusal infuriated the president, leading to his forced resignation last November.

As deputy, Rosenstein was a central character in some of the most consequential, even chaotic, moments of the Trump administration. He wrote a memo criticizing James Comey that the White House used as justification for the firing of the FBI director, then a week later appointed Mueller to investigate the Trump campaign's ties to Russia. That investigation swiftly grew to include whether the firing of Comey constituted obstruction of justice.

Still, Rosenstein paid tribute to Trump in his letter,despite being the subject of some of Trump's most biting jabs. Trump once retweeted an image that showed Rosenstein and other officials jailed for treason.

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

But he goes on to quote former attorneys general about the importance of the law being non-partisan, and he writes himself, "the Department bears a special responsibility to avoid partisanship.

"We enforce the law without fear or favor because credible evidence is not partisan and truth is not determined by opinion polls."

The deputy attorney general position is a hugely significant job, responsible for overseeing the daily operations of the U.S. Justice Department and the work of United States attorneys across the country. Trump has nominated deputy transportation secretary Jeffrey Rosen as Rosenstein's replacement.

Though Rosenstein's exit was orderly, his relationship with the president had waffled over time. His job status appeared perilous last September following news reports that he had discussed secretly recording Trump and invoking a constitutional amendment to remove him from office.

The Justice Department issued statements challenging the reporting, but former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe who was in the room has said he got the sense that Rosenstein was "counting votes" about which Cabinet members he could enlist in the effort.

Rosenstein arrived at the White House days after the reporting expecting to be fired, but he was instead allowed to stay on after private conversations with Trump's then-chief of staff, John Kelly, and the president himself.