As Trump attacks U.S. law enforcement another top official quits
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department’s third-ranking official  Rachel Brand  plans to step down and take a senior job at Walmart Inc(WMT.N)  sources familiar with her decision said on Friday  at a time when  President Donald Trump  has taken aim at senior law enforcement officials.
Brand was next in line of succession to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein for oversight of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into potential collusion between  Trump ’s 2016 presidential campaign and Russia and whether  the Republican president  has unlawfully sought to obstruct the ongoing probe.
After just nine months on the job  Brand had grown increasingly uncomfortable with  Trump ’s escalating attacks on the Justice Department and the FBI  which  she  and other law enforcement professionals feared was beginning to undermine the rule of law  according to sources familiar with  her  thinking.
The attacks have escalated in recent weeks as Republicans in Congress have criticized the handling by the Justice Department  FBI and the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Court of warrants for surveillance of a  Trump  campaign advisor  Carter Page  who had ties to Russia.  Trump  called the matter “a disgrace.”
News of Brand’s departure comes a week after  Trump  approved the release of a previously classified memo written by Republican lawmakers that portrayed the Russia investigation  initially handled by the FBI and now headed by Mueller  as a product of political bias against  Trump  at the FBI and Justice Department.
 Trump  also has criticized Sessions for recusing  himself .
On Feb. 2  just hours before  Trump  approved the release of the Republican memo  Sessions offered praise for Rosenstein  the department’s No. 2 official  and Brand  saying they “represent the kind of quality and leadership that we want in the department.”
 Trump  fired then-FBI Director James Comey  who was leading the agency’s Russia investigation  in May 2017  saying  he  took the action because of “this Russia thing.”
The FBI’s deputy director  Andrew McCabe  stepped down in January after  Trump  repeatedly criticized him on Twitter. McCabe’s wife previously ran as a Democrat for a seat in Virginia’s state Senate and received donations from then-Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe  a close ally of Hillary Clinton and former president Bill Clinton.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department’s third-ranking official  Rachel Brand  plans to step down and take a senior job at Walmart Inc(WMT.N)  sources familiar with her decision said on Friday  at a time when  [TGT]has taken aim at senior law enforcement officials.
Brand was next in line of succession to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein for oversight of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into potential collusion between [TGT] ’s 2016 presidential campaign and Russia and whether  the Republican president  has unlawfully sought to obstruct the ongoing probe.
After just nine months on the job  Brand had grown increasingly uncomfortable with  [TGT] ’s escalating attacks on the Justice Department and the FBI  which  she  and other law enforcement professionals feared was beginning to undermine the rule of law  according to sources familiar with  her  thinking.
The attacks have escalated in recent weeks as Republicans in Congress have criticized the handling by the Justice Department  FBI and the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Court of warrants for surveillance of a  [TGT]  campaign advisor  Carter Page  who had ties to Russia.  [TGT]called the matter “a disgrace.”
News of Brand’s departure comes a week after  [TGT]approved the release of a previously classified memo written by Republican lawmakers that portrayed the Russia investigation  initially handled by the FBI and now headed by Mueller  as a product of political bias against  [TGT]at the FBI and Justice Department.
 [TGT]also has criticized Sessions for recusing  [TGT] .
On Feb. 2  just hours before  [TGT]  approved the release of the Republican memo  Sessions offered praise for Rosenstein  the department’s No. 2 official  and Brand  saying they “represent the kind of quality and leadership that we want in the department.”
 [TGT]fired then-FBI Director James Comey  who was leading the agency’s Russia investigation  in May 2017  saying  he  took the action because of “this Russia thing.”
The FBI’s deputy director  Andrew McCabe  stepped down in January after  [TGT]  repeatedly criticized him on Twitter. McCabe’s wife previously ran as a Democrat for a seat in Virginia’s state Senate and received donations from then-Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe  a close ally of Hillary Clinton and former president Bill Clinton.