Sessions, Rosenstein honor "exemplary public servants" at Attorney General's awards
Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein gave remarks at the 65th Annual Attorney General's Awards Ceremony in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday.
Newest FBI Director Christopher Wray was also in attendance for Wednesday's events.
The ceremony has previously recognized and honored department employees and others for their service within the Justice Department.
Rosenstein told audience members that today's event honors people within the Department who have "put service before self" and the mission of the DOJ.
"No matter what your role is at the Department, no matter what your task, it's part of a larger goal of protecting the rights and security of the American people," echoed Sessions.
The awards honored more than 200 recipients at the DOJ and 19 others from outside the Department, which Sessions said recognize "truly outstanding patriots" of the 115,000 total DOJ employees.
"The awards chosen to give are our attempt to not just recognize these recipients, but their excellence symbolizes the excellence of thousands we were unable to recognize."
Wednesday's honorees hailed from various DOJ posts in Tennessee, Ohio, North Carolina, California, South Carolina, Texas, New York, Florida, Alaska, Arizona.
Among the teams honored included those involved in the DOJ's revived civil forfeiture program, the DOJ's team in cracking down on health care fraud, the Charleston, South Carolina church shooting conviction against gunman Dylann Roof, investigators from the deadly mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, the confirmation process of Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch and President Trump's most recent executive order on the travel ban.
This is a developing story and will be updated.