Article snippet: President Donald Trump's criticism Wednesday of the top two officials at the Department of Justice led to speculation that Attorney General Rod Rosenstein could resign their posts. While both Sessions and Rosenstein expressed their commitment to their positions at a Thursday morning press conference, the headlines involving the pair have cast a spotlight on the third person in the Justice Department hierarchy, Associate Attorney General Rachel Brand. Brand, the first woman to serve as associate attorney general, was nominated by Trump in February and confirmed by the Senate by a 52-46 margin in May. She was previously appointed to federal government positions by both former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. During her confirmation hearing in March, during which she was questioned alongside Rosenstein, Brand said that she would “strive to undertake [her] role with integrity, independence and fidelity to constitutional principles and the rule of law.” After growing up in Iowa, Brand attended the University of Minnesota, Morris, and Harvard Law School. She has since cycled between public and private positions during her career as a lawyer. Following a clerkship with Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, Brand worked at the law firm Cooper, Carvin and Rosenthal, according to her Senate questionnaire. She also worked on former North Carolina Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole’s presidential campaign, according to a 1999 article in the Legal Ti... Link to the full article to read more