Top DOJ official to resign; Sessions names replacement

[Right_in_Virginia]

Top DOJ official to resign; Sessions names replacement
Successor won't oversee Mueller probe
Washington Times, Jul 3, 2018, Gabriella Muñoz

Associate Deputy Attorney General Scott Schools announced Tuesday that he will step down this week.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions appointed Bradley Weinsheimer to be acting associate deputy attorney general upon Mr. Schools‘ resignation, which is effective Friday.

“Scott Schools has been a fabulous lawyer for the Department of Justice for close to twenty years, rising through the ranks at the Department to become our most senior career attorney,” Mr. Sessions said in a statement. “Scott has provided invaluable leadership and counsel in his years at the Department, and his service is an example to all. He will be greatly missed, and I wish him the best in his future endeavors."

Unlike his predecessor, Mr. Weinsheimer will not be involved with special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.

Mr. Schools has been an active figure in the Mueller investigation, one of a few Justice Department officials to receive updates about the ongoing probe, NPR reported. It also connected the outgoing deputy attorney general to former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe as the one who recommended Mr. McCabe be fired.


https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/jul/3/scott-schools-resign-doj-office/

[Right_in_Virginia]

Most senior career Justice Department official stepping down
Washington Post, Jul 3, 2018, Matt Zapotosky

A top Justice Department official who has been a critical, behind-the-scenes player in some of federal law enforcement’s biggest controversies is stepping down at the end of the week, authorities said.

Scott Schools, the Justice Department’s most senior career official, will leave Friday for a position in the private sector, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced. He will be replaced on an acting basis by Bradley Weinsheimer, a former assistant U.S. attorney and 27-year Justice Department veteran.

***

Though Schools was not a household name, he often provided guidance on some of the thorniest issues facing Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein, whose office he worked in.

In recent months, CNN spotted Schools leaving the office of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III with Ed O’Callaghan, Rosenstein’s top deputy.

Schools was a key player in the controversial firing of former FBI director Andrew McCabe, and was among a few to hear McCabe’s final pitch that he should not be terminated over allegations that he authorized a media disclosure and lied to investigators about it. He was also at the center of a dispute over whether former deputy attorney general Sally Yates would be allowed to testify in the congressional investigation of possible links between Russian officials and Donald Trump’s campaign.


More:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/most-senior-career-justice-department-official-stepping-down/2018/07/03/75b90ca6-7eec-11e8-b0ef-fffcabeff946_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.f9ff7ce545ef

[endicom]

"A top official tells Big League Politics that Scott Schools, as the most trusted DOJ ethics official, told Rod Rosenstein NOT to recuse himself in any cases involving alleged Russian collusion, and that Schools is also responsible for advising Jeff Sessions to recuse himself from the case. Schools then advised Rosenstein to appoint Robert Mueller as special counsel."

https://bigleaguepolitics.com/anti-trump-conspirator-at-justice-department-set-to-resign-after-big-league-politics-report/