Bharara: Possible 'Conflict' With Rosenstein's Roles as Witness, Overseer

Former U.S. attorney general Preet Bharara on Sunday said there's seemingly a conflict with the deputy attorney general's dual roles of witness and overseer of the special counsel's Russia-obstruction investigation.

Bharara, now a special legal analyst for CNN, said it's "odd and unusual" that Rod Rosenstein was questioned by special counsel Robert Mueller's team, given Rosenstein was the one who impaneled the unit to look into allegations of collusion with Russia after President Donald Trump fired former FBI director James Comey.

Rosenstein was questioned by Mueller's team about his role in terminating Comey, the result of which is part of an obstruction probe linked to the Russia probe.

"We do know that (Rosenstein) had some role in putting forth what I think most people think was a pre-textual basis for the firing of Jim Comey, and to the extent that an obstruction investigation relies a little bit on the facts relating to the firing of Jim Comey, it would seem that there's a conflict," Bharara said on CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday program.

"It's odd and unusual that a person who is putatively overseeing the investigation also is a witness," Bharara said on CNN.

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