 WASHINGTON—A senior Justice Department official on Friday again defended his decision to write a memo that the White House cited as grounds for President Donald Trump’s firing of FBI Director James Comey, but he declined to discuss further his role in the dismissal, including who asked him to write the memo. “It is a candid internal memorandum about the FBI director’s public statements concerning a high-profile criminal investigation.” 
 
 The House briefing capped a chaotic week on Capitol Hill, as lawmakers continued to grapple with Comey’s firing and a wave of new reports about President Trump’s behavior and the federal probe of possible collusion between his associates and the Russian government. But Rosenstein, who was only recently confirmed as the Justice Department’s second-highest ranking official, left no doubt that it was voluntary. “I wrote it,” Rosenstein said. “I believe it. I stand by it.” 
 
 “Notwithstanding my personal affection for Director Comey, I thought it was appropriate to seek a new leader,” Rosenstein said. In prepared remarks delivered to the House on Friday and the Senate the previous day, Rod Rosenstein said the memo summarized his “longstanding concerns” about Mr. Comey’s public remarks last year on an FBI investigation...
– During meetings with lawmakers Thursday and Friday, Rod Rosenstein stood by the memo that may or may not have been the reason for James Comey's firing, the Hill reports. "I wrote it. I believe it. I stand by it," the deputy attorney general said. However, Rosenstein said the memo wasn't "a finding of official misconduct," nor was it "a statement of reasons to justify a for-cause termination." The White House had used the memo as justification for firing the FBI director, though President Trump later contradicted that, saying he was already going to fire Comey. According to the Washington Post, Rosenstein told lawmakers he already knew Comey was going to be fired before he wrote the memo—though he said the firing "was appropriate." A number of lawmakers were left unsatisfied by their meetings with Rosenstein, who they believe was withholding important information. Democratic Rep. Charlie Crist says it was a Q and A with "not a whole lot of A." And the Wall Street Journal reports another lawmaker described it as a "waste of my time." One of the major questions Rosenstein refused to answer was who, if anyone, asked him to write the memo. He did say Comey never requested more resources for the Russian investigation prior to being fired by Trump, as had been reported.