REUTERS/Joshua Roberts
Deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein testifies to the House Judiciary Committee hearing on oversight on Capitol Hill, December 13, 2017.
- Republican lawmakers say they have introduced articles of impeachment targeting the deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein.
- Conservative members of the House Oversight Committee have been critical of the Justice Department's ongoing Russia investigation into possible collusion between the Kremlin and members of Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.
- They allege Rosenstein failed to produce documents related to the DOJ's probe, and that those that were released were overly redacted as an attempt to "conceal certain facts."
- Rosenstein has rejected the accusations, and Republican attempts to hasten the end of the Russia investigation, which is being led by the special counsel Robert Mueller under Rosenstein's oversight.
After months of threats, a group of conservative Republican lawmakers say they have introduced articles of impeachment of the deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein.
The move follows months of wrangling between members of the House Oversight Committee and the Justice Department over the investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 US presidential election.
The group, which includes Republican Rep. Mark Meadows of North Carolina and Jim Jordan of Ohio, have accused Rosenstein and the DOJ of not being fully cooperative with the House committee's demands related to the Russia probe.
Rosenstein oversees the special counsel Robert Mueller, who is leading the federal probe of Russia's US-election interference.
"The DOJ has continued to hide information from Congress and repeatedly obstructed oversight--even defying multiple Congressional subpoenas," Rep. Mark Meadows of North Carolina claimed on in a Twitter post on Wednesday.
Meadows and Jordan have been particularly critical of the Russia investigation which, among other things, is examining possible collusion between Russian agents and members of President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign.
"For 9 months we've warned them consequences were coming, and for 9 months we've heard the same excuses backed up by the same unacceptable conduct," Meadows said in a statement. "Time is up and the consequences are here. It's time to find a new Deputy Attorney General who is serious about accountability and transparency."
"The DOJ is keeping information from Congress," Jordan alleged in his statement. "Enough is enough. It's time to hold Mr. Rosenstein accountable for blocking Congress's constitutional oversight role."
Republicans alleged Rosenstein had failed to produce documents related to the Justice Department's decision to launch its Russia investigation, and that the documents which were released were overly redacted as an attempt to "conceal certain facts."
However, the Justice Department argued that it "substantially complied" with their requests, and that it was working so that any remaining requests would be "expeditiously completed." According to FBI Director Christopher Wray, his department turned over 880,000 pages of documents to Congress as of July.
It appears that the resolution will have little chance of success on the House floor, in part because Trey Gowdy, the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, has not signed onto to the impeachment effort, and has defended the DOJ's efforts to cooperate with the committee. "Impeachment is a punishment, it's not a remedy," Gowdy said according to The Washington Post.
House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin is also among the leadership who have not signed on to the Rosenstein impeachment effort.