very smart guy. the democrats like him. the republicans like him. >> this guy is a man of upstanding character and essentially the gold standard at the department of justice. >> reporter: rosenstein's stock rose even higher when after just two weeks on the job, he wrote a now infamous memo at the request of the president. lambasting fbi director james comey for mishandling the clinton e-mail investigation. >> if the president asks you to look at this and give your thoughts, you can't say no. >> so he writes the memo. >> he writes the memo. >> and then? >> all hell breaks loose. >> the president loved it. almost as much as he hated comey. so much, in fact, he received it, released it, and fired comey, all on the same day last may. >> this is cnn breaking news. >> all right. we have major breaking news.