Rachel Brand resigned her post as associate attorney general after months of unhappiness and fresh fears that she would be tasked with overseeing the special counsel's Russia investigation, NBC News reports.
Brand, No. 3 in the Justice Department, announced her resignation Friday.
Though Brand's new job at Walmart had been in the works for some time, she feared that President Donald Trump would fire Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and put her in charge of Robert Mueller's Russia probe, NBC reported.
The smart money had been that Trump would use last week's House Intelligence Committee memo, authored by chairman Rep. Devin Nunes, as justification to can Rosenstein, No. 2 at the Justice Department and the one who appointed Mueller.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from all things Russia early 2017, in effect abdicating responsibility for the Russia probe to his subordinates.
However, Brand had been unhappy for several months, frustrated that four of the 13 divisions she oversaw — all of which require Senate confirmation — are unfilled, NBC reports.
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