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Whitaker Named Senior Counselor at Justice Department for Now

Whitaker Named Senior Counselor at Justice Department for Now

(Bloomberg) -- Former acting U.S. Attorney General Matthew Whitaker will remain at the Justice Department at least for the short term as a senior counselor, according to department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec.

Whitaker was given the new assignment after the Senate voted Thursday to confirm William Barr as attorney general. Trump had installed Whitaker as acting attorney general in November, after forcing out Jeff Sessions.

Whitaker’s assignment is temporary for the time being and he reports to Jesse Panuccio, who is principal deputy associate attorney general, Kupec said.

With Barr’s arrival, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is expected to leave the department within weeks.

To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Strohm in Washington at cstrohm1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Kevin Whitelaw at kwhitelaw@bloomberg.net, Larry Liebert, Elizabeth Wasserman

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