Rosenstein squares off with House panel
Deputy WASHINGTON — Attorney General Rod Rosenstein squared off Thursday with Republican lawmakers who accused him of misconduct and stonewalling
— claims he angrily denied
— in an ongoing feud over the FBI’s investigations into Hillary Clinton and President Donald Trump.
The tense exchanges at a hearing of the House Judiciary Committee were interrupted by a House vote on a resolution meant to publicly rebuke Rosenstein over what lawmakers consider is his failure to turn over investigative documents related to both cases. The measure, which passed 226-183, calls on the Justice Department to “comply with requests including subpoenas” by July 6.
Thursday’s hearing featuring Rosenstein and FBI director Christopher Wray was billed as an examination of an inspector general’s report that found serious failings in how federal law enforcement handled a high-profile investigation into Clinton’s use of a private email server while she was secretary of state. But it mostly centered on Rosenstein — and Republican accusations he has withheld key details about the politically sensitive investigations.
Rosenstein insisted to the committee that the department has “hundreds of people working around the clock trying to satisfy this request,” and that the vote demanding the papers be produced quicker would not affect that work.
Reps. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Mark Meadows, R-N.C., authors of the House resolution, have suggested that if Rosenstein does not comply with their demands by their stated deadline, they will pursue contempt charges against him — even though GOP leaders have not indicated a willingness to take such punitive steps at a time when the Justice Department is trying to produce the records.
At the hearing, Jordan peppered Rosenstein with accusations, asking, “Why are you keeping information from Congress?”
Rosenstein denied doing so.
“I don’t agree with you, congressman,” he said. “That is not accurate, sir.”
Jordan also accused the deputy attorney general of redacting documents to hide information embarrassing to the FBI.
“Mr. Jordan, I am the deputy attorney general of the United States. I’m not the person doing the redacting,” Rosenstein answered.
As Jordan interrupted Rosenstein to level more accusations, Rosenstein snapped back: “Your use of this to attack me personally is deeply wrong ... . I’m not trying to hide anything.”