House Republicans introduce articles of impeachment against Rosenstein
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
A group of 11 House Republicans introduced articles of impeachment against Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein Wednesday evening.
The impeachment articles accuse Rosenstein of intentionally withholding documents and information from Congress, failure to comply with congressional subpoenas and abuse of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
The resolution states it will be "referred to the Committee," meaning the Judiciary Committee, for further review. That language suggests the full House will not immediately consider the articles of impeachment.
The articles were introduced by Reps. Mark Meadows of North Carolina and Jim Jordan of Ohio, the chairman and a prominent member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus.
In an exclusive interview on Fox News' "The Ingraham Angle" on Wednesday night, Meadows said it would be possible to effect a so-called "privileged" resolution on impeaching Rosenstein as early as Thursday morning, which would require a vote within two days -- although the impending House recess would likely delay that vote unless it were held quickly.
Both Meadows and Jordan told host Laura Ingraham the effort was long overdue.
"For nine months, we've asked for documents, and that's all we want," Meadows said. "Not only have subpoenas been ignored, but information has been hidden, efforts have been stonewalled."
"We've caught the Department of Justice hiding information, redacting information that they should not have redacted," Jordan charged, adding that Rosenstein had attempted to intimidate House staffers with subpoenas.
We're tired of the Justice Department giving us the finger," Jordan added. "The American people are sick of it."
Jordan said he had not spoken to House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., about the impeachment articles, but said that "The American people are with us -- that's what matters."
But Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, tweeted that the articles "were filed in bad faith and show [the] extraordinary lengths to which House Republicans will go to protect [President] Trump."
And Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said the move was "partisan nonsense."
Schiff, joined by New York Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler and Maryland Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings, also issued a joint statement calling the impeachment articles a futile "direct attack on the Special Counsel’s investigation—full stop."
In one article of impeachment, Rosenstein is accused of improperly signing off on the FISA surveillance warrant application against ex-Trump aide Carter Page.
The application heavily relied on the infamous Steele Dossier, which was funded by the Clinton campaign and the DNC and contained unverified, salacious allegations against Trump.
"Under Mr. Rosenstein’s supervision, the Department of Justice and FBI intentionally obfuscated the fact the dossier was originally a political opposition research document before the FISC [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court]," the articles of impeachment state.
They continue: "As Deputy Attorney General, Mr. Rosenstein has failed in his responsibility for the proper authorization of searches under FISA, and his conduct related to the surveillance of American citizens working on the Trump campaign has permanently undermined both public and congressional confidence in significant counterintelligence program processes."
The documents also charge that Rosenstein has an impermissible conflict of interest.
“His conduct in authorizing the FISA surveillance at issue in the joint congressional investigation makes him a fact witness central to the ongoing investigation of potential FISA abuse,” the articles state. “Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein’s failure to recuse himself in light of this inherent conflict of interest and failure to recommend the appointment of a second Special Counsel constitute dereliction of duty."
Rosenstein named Special Counsel Robert Mueller to lead the Trump-Russia probe after Rosenstein’s boss, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, recused himself from the investigation because of Sessions’ own role in the Trump campaign.
He has since clashed with House Republicans for months over requests for Department of Justice documents. GOP leaders grilled Rosenstein at a hearing in June for what they called his inadequate transparency.
In recent weeks, calls by top Republicans to remove Rosenstein grew louder. A simple majority of the House would suffice to impeach Rosenstein, but a two-thirds vote of the Senate would be required to remove him.
The move came about two hours after GOP lawmakers met with Justice Department officials who have been working to provide documents to several congressional committees about decisions made during the 2016 presidential campaign. The department has provided lawmakers with more than 800,000 documents, but Meadows said after the meeting that there was still "frustration" with how Justice has handled the oversight requests.
It was not immediately clear whether the Republicans' move would affect the DOJ's document production to the House, which GOP leaders have been more pleased with in recent weeks.
House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., said after the meeting that he was pleased with the department's efforts and wouldn't support Rosenstein's impeachment. House Speaker Paul Ryan has also said he is satisfied with progress on the document production.
Fox News' Chad Pergram, Catherine Herridge, Jake Gibson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Congress has finally got some backbone!
Ya, it's a real profile in courage to try to prosecute Rosenstein for actions taken by Sessions. It's a back door attempt at removing Rosenstein from his oversight of the Mueller investigation.
BTW, I notice that you didn't lock this seed when you left but you commented and then locked your other seed. Interesting tactic...
It's neither. There won't even be a vote on this. It's because congress cant get vital information from the DOJ, nor can they get witnesses to answer questions. BTW Paul Ryan is right, articles of impeachment are not called for since there is no high crime or misdemeanor. It is all about sending a message to a defiant Rosenstein
BTW, I notice that you didn't lock this seed when you left but you commented and then locked your other seed. Interesting tactic...
It's nice to have your attention.
Is Trump the messiah? Are all who stand against him the Money Changers?
Trump is Herod sending his minions out to kill all the baby boys because he heard of the prophecy about a King being born that might challenge his authority. Trump is desperate and it shows.
Trump's Twitter tweets are now also under investigation by Muller's team. While Trump thinks he is free to tweet whatever he chooses without repercussions, it seems that his favorite method of contact with his base and minions may prove to work against him for several reasons.
Source:
It takes two thirds of the Senate to impeach anyone like Rosenstein, and that aint happening.
This is a "show trial" type operation intended to buck up support for trump's anti Mueller nonsense.
John - Isn't Session's Rosenstein's boss?? Wouldn't it be the responsibility of Sessions to "fire" Rosenstein?
Maybe not, Sessions recused himself from the Mueller investigation.
Rosenstein was confirmed by the senate and I think can only be removed by the president or through impeachment. Sessions has already said that he would consider leaving himself in protest if Trump fires Rosenstein. But that was when Trump railed against Rosenstein for not protecting him against Mueller. If Republicans make a credible case for impeachment but can’t get Democrats’ votes because of partisan politics, Trump might fire him and Sessions might accept it. In other words, the impeachment may be just a means of giving Trump cover.
And apparently anything even remotely close to resembling it. I think we should appoint Ted Cruz as Deputy AG
'Lying Ted'?
Well judging from the bullshit they have in their "Articles of Impeachment' that isn't going to happen. Allegedly, they've been working on this for a while and that crap was the best they could do.
Oh and notice that they sent it to the Judiciary Committee, which is hysterical.
If all it needs to do is make a public case for Trump to fire him, then it served its purpose.
So all of the false allegations and unfounded innuendo is just fine with you if it serves Trump's purposes. Got ya.
It seems to be fine by you if false allegations and unfounded innuendo work against Trump. Got ya back. But something isn’t unfounded or false simply because Democrats don’t believe it.
Really? Has there been a Congressional Resolution with Articles of Impeachment that include false allegations and innuendo been filed against Trump?
If not, you're making a false equivalency.
Conversely, simply because 11 Reps make allegations doesn't make them true. There are allegations in the Resolution that are demonstrably false and/or fabricated.
BTW, aren't you curious why the Resolution cites Chairman Goodlatte multiple times yet he is NOT a cosponsor?
Not Ted Kennedy - Ted Cruz
The proper time will be AFTER the Mueller report (it will eventually be that) and you are right, Gowdy is the man!
It ain't happening for anyone then, right?
Yet again, the majority party will be unable to unanimously rally behind this resolution. Fools errand.
Yep, they've been banging this drum for months and only have 11 Reps onboard.
And they just recessed for vacation without considering the issue.
Amazed we've a segment of 'conservatives' demanding documentation, currently used in an ongoing FBI investigation, be unredacted and distributed. Talk of treasonous behavior.
Like others, seeing the complete FISA application on Page peaks my interest. Is the country willing to disclose who is spying for our country? Have names and methods put on display to the world, endangering our National Security. All to provide WH cover!
Congressional oversight is one thing but this entire exercise was not just blatantly political but purposely obstructed justice and harmed national security, with the House intel chairman even running interference for Trump. At least the Senate intel committee has behaved more responsibly.
House and intel are no longer congruent. Evidently 1/3 of the country still believes they are...dangerous.
It's a weird time we're in, isn't it? We've got a traitor running the country and a party running Congress with the intent of undermining the work of government.
Even though they get briefed on the investigation every so often, they want information regarding an on going investigation.
Do some of you not ever wonder why that would be? For people that say they love the rule of law, they are cheering on suppressing that by digging into an on going investigation. Trying to get information the would put a stop to said investigation. And some people cheer this on.
Also why cheer this crap on when none of us would have the same courtesy. Do you think I could stop the cops from deciding to follow me around and see what I was up to? I couldn't even if I wanted to. I could not stop them from checking my internet history if they wanted to.
But now we have some idiot, yes Page is a fucking loon, that actually went to Russia and had dealings with them but yet people are crying, hell no. They are moving earth to pry into any investigation and discredit it at the same time.
Would I get the same consideration? No. Should I if they thought I was doing something wrong? Probably not. Yet some cheer these people and cheer them circumventing what we ourselves would never be able to get around.
Did you feel the same way about Hillary when Comey cleared her, reopened the case, then cleared her again? Frankly, he should have been fired just for that blundering job of investigating. Here is the major problem with Rosenstein being in charge of the investigations and not recusing himself: He is an actual witness due to signing off on one of the FISA applications/renewals. The fact he hasn't recused himself even though he participated in the investigation's key moves should ring alarm bells for anyone. It means if he knowingly approved a false application that he is in position to cover up everything about it even though the actual application has been released. Most police departments try to keep witnesses from being involved in the investigation including police officers so as to have an impartial investigation. Right now, everything about the entire investigation screams cover-up, because those FBI and DOJ officials that are running the investigation also seem to be witnesses in the investigation.
I think you've got it. Thanks Tom
What makes you think that Mueller is going to present any evidence to any court that was derived from the intelligence garnered from the FISA warrant?
Again, HOW is the FISA warrant a 'key move' in an Mueller investigation?
Wow, that's some delusional shit right there.
Police officers who weren't 'involved in the investigation' wouldn't have any value as witnesses. LEOs who investigate a crime are ALWAYS witnesses in court. Sheesh.
Every crime that is investigated by the FBI or DOJ includes the testimony of their agents during prosecution. You seriously have NO CLUE WTF you are talking about.
If they go to court using anything from the FBI investigation, the FISA warrants are going to be exculpatory evidence.
So, Dulay, they allow officers involved in a shooting to investigate the shooting to see if they were justified? What we have here is a political shooting.
HOW and WHY? A proclamation isn't a convincing argument.
So Tom, they don't allow investigating officers testify in court?
It may behoove you to look into 'chain of evidence' and how that chain is verified in court.
So are you claiming that Rosenstein was involved in the crime? A crime that you claim is a witch hunt?
Mueller is investigating Russian election interference and any connection Trump or his team had in it. For your claim to even hold a small drop of water, you would have to show that Rosenstein was involved with the Russian interference, or collusion with the Russians. You know, like Sessions was.
"A group of 11 House Republicans introduced articles of impeachment against Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein Wednesday evening. "
Why is this even news? It's more of a story if 11 house Republicans were to go to the bathroom together, they'd accomplish far more than this idiotic and pointless motion.
Because if democrats don't win the House in November, they will return to the Rosenstein matter
Thank you all for an interesting discussion