Matthew Whitaker

President-elect Donald Trump tapped Matthew Whitaker as his ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which Trump has long criticized for taking advantage of U.S. defense spending.

Matthew Whitaker said that he's been fully briefed on the Russia investigation and that he was looking forward to a final report from special counsel Robert Mueller.

Critics are continuing to put pressure on Matthew Whitaker after he was named as temporary replacement for Jeff Sessions. The Justice Department says the law is clear: He can stay.

The appointee, named after President Trump forced out his predecessor, may go ahead because he served at a sufficiently high level within the DOJ for more than a year, the legal office says.

As part of an ongoing lawsuit over the Affordable Care Act, Maryland requested a preliminary injunction that would declare Rod Rosenstein the acting attorney general instead.

Trump said on Friday that he doesn't know Matthew Whitaker. Last month on television, the president said not only that he knew him but that he is a "great guy."

The chief of staff to former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Whitaker is a former U.S. attorney with a history of questioning the scope of special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation.