Does this mean there's daylight breaking through the darkness at the DOJ? Or is Rod Rosenstein throwing Trump a bone?
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has picked a veteran prosecutor to help him oversee the Russia probe at the Justice Department as the Special Counsel's investigation deepens.
Ed O'Callaghan will serve as the acting Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General, according to a Justice Department official.
The powerful post, commonly known as the "Padag" within the department, advises the Deputy Attorney General on all major investigations and policy matters, but generally floats under the radar...
A long-time federal prosecutor and counterterrorism expert in New York, O'Callaghan most recently served as the acting head of the DOJ's National Security Division. He raised eyebrows of some former DOJ officials earlier this year when he took to the White House podium to defend the Trump administration's use of contested terrorism figures to encourage changes to immigration policies.
O'Callaghan had also worked on McCain's campaign and had assisted on Trump's transition team.
O’Callaghan, who also assisted on President Donald Trump’s transition team, according to the New York Post, started his new role—as principal deputy assistant attorney general—on Monday in the DOJ’s National Security Division. He will be responsible for helping to shape U.S. national security and enforcement priorities.
In 2008, while working on the McCain for President campaign, O’Callaghan acted as the campaign’s spokesman regarding Alaska state investigations involving vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.
Before that, O’Callaghan worked for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, where he was co-chief of the terrorism and national security unit.
So does this mean that there will be a voice of reason at the DOJ? Possibly. But I wouldn't count the chickens yet.
Changing the guard within the government takes a long time. The process is only beginning.