Fight over Russia probe heats up
Conservative lawmakers introduced a resolution calling for the impeachment of Deputy Attorney-General Rod Rosenstein, in a move that marks a dramatic escalation in the battle over Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
The effort, spearheaded by Republican congressmen Mark Meadows and Jim Jordan, also sets up a showdown with House Republican leaders, who have distanced themselves from calls to remove Rosenstein from office. But Meadows and Jordan stopped short of forcing an immediate vote on the measure, sparing Republican lawmakers for now from a potential dilemma.
“We’re tired of the Justice Department giving us the finger and not giving us the information we’re entitled to to do our constitutional duty,” Jordan said in a Fox News appearance alongside Meadows. “More importantly, the American people are sick of it. That’s why we filed the resolution.” Meadows and Jordan are leaders of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, a bloc whose members have been among the most persistent critics of Rosenstein. All 11 lawmakers who filed the resolution are members of the caucus.
House Republicans have been ramping up their attacks on the Deputy AttorneyGeneral in recent weeks, accusing him of withholding documents and being insufficiently transparent in his handling of the probe led by Mueller.
Justice Department officials have said they have provided the vast majority of information sought in subpoenas from two key House committees — and are nearly done with providing all of the outstanding information requested.
Democrats have argued that House Republicans’ clashes with Rosenstein are little more than a pretext to weaken Mueller’s efforts. In a joint statement, the top Democrats on three House committees called the resolution a “direct attack” on the Mueller probe and warned President Donald Trump not to use it as a pretext to fire Rosenstein or Mueller.
Meanwhile, a CNN reporter said she was blocked from an open media event at the White House yesterday after officials objected to questions she asked Trump at an event earlier in the day. Reporter Kaitlan Collins said press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders and communications director Bill Shine told her she was banned from a late-afternoon announcement involving Trump in the Rose Garden.
Blocking a credentialed White House reporter from an event open to all members of the media is highly unusual and possibly unprecedented. It wasn’t clear whether it was a directive from Trump himself. Collins sought to question Trump about the release of an audiotape involving then-candidate Trump and his lawyer Michael Cohen in October 2016.
“Did Michael Cohen betray you, Mr President?” Collins asked Trump as reporters shouted questions. She also asked: “Are you worried about what Michael Cohen is going to say to prosecutors?” She also asked Trump if he is worried about what might be on any other tapes recorded by Cohen, and why Russian President Vladimir Putin had not yet accepted Trump’s invitation to come to Washington.
CNN said in a statement that Collins was told that her questions were “inappropriate.” It added: “They were not. Just because the White House is uncomfortable with a question regarding the news of the day doesn’t mean the question isn’t relevant and shouldn’t be asked.”