NYT: Rachel Brand, Number Three at Justice Department Stepping Down

Associate Attorney General Rachel L. Brand is stepping down from the Justice Department after only nine months on the job, according to The New York Times. Brand is currently in the third-highest ranking position at the Department of Justice, reporting directly to Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. According to the report, she plans to move to the private sector after serving in politically-appointed positions at the DOJ for the past three presidential administrations. Brand was in charge of the “civil division, the civil rights division and the antitrust division” at the Department, and was the lead in the effort to extend the legal support for the National Security Agency’s warrantless surveillance. This comes as the Justice Department has recently come under fire by President Trump in light of the recently released controversial GOP memo.