Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, in an exclusive interview with Fox News that aired Wednesday, repeatedly declined to say whether the Justice Department might reopen the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email server.

In the interview on "The Story with Martha MacCallum," Rosenstein said he would not comment on the FBI investigation into whether Clinton mishandled classified information, which was closed last summer without charges being filed.

When asked by MacCallum if he would ever consider re-opening the investigation, Rosenstein answered “every decision we make … about whether to investigate, whether to prosecute, is based upon the facts in the law [and] an independent determination with the insight and investigative work of our career agents and prosecutors.”

In a May 9 memo, Rosenstein told Attorney General Jeff Sessions that he “cannot defend” Comey’s handling of the Clinton email probe, particularly his public announcement that Clinton would not face prosecution. However, Rosenstein told MacCallum Wednesday he was dissatisfied with the “publicity surrounding the investigation,” not necessarily the investigation’s outcome.

"I’ve never commented on the substance of the investigation and I’m not going to do that now," Rosenstein said.

Rosenstein also declined to comment on whether he had reexamined the investigation while deliberating whether to fire Comey, nor would he say whether any Justice Department resources were devoted to the question of re-opening the investigation.

Later this week, a federal court will hold a hearing in a lawsuit from the conservative group Judicial Watch seeking emails sent or received by Clinton during her tenure as Secretary of State. The group says that the State Department has been "slow-rolling" the release of Clinton’s emails from her tenure as America’s top diplomat, and claims that the messages and other records will not be fully available until 2020.