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WASHINGTON – For months, their sparring had been indirect, stern letters exchanged, sharp threats exchanged through the media. But on Thursday, more and more intensive skirmishes between Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein and Republican House Conservatives erupted in an ugly public struggle.
On the House, Republicans voted by shaking the Ministry of Justice sensitive documents related to the investigation of Russia and the FBI's investigation into the use of private messaging by Hillary Clinton. Although non-binding, the measure was intended to warn Mr. Rosenstein that House lawmakers were prepared to take punitive action – including potentially impeachment – if their demands were not met.
In the House Judiciary Committee, conservative Republicans hoisted Mr. Rosenstein and the FBI director, Christopher A. Wray, in front of television cameras to accuse them of hiding Congressional information to protect their own interests. In the case of Mr. Rosenstein, some Republicans have accused of direct misconduct related to the investigation of Russian electoral interference.
The two leaders, both appointed by President Trump, defended the Special Advisor's investigation and their response to congressional investigators. He was deeply troubled by the findings of a report by an Inspector General of the Department of Justice released this month on the FBI's management of the Clinton affair
"There are mechanisms to resolve this problem without threatening contempt ". Rosenstein said, urging lawmakers to work with him rather than threaten him. "We are not in contempt of this Congress.We will not be."
Democrats accused Republicans of concocting a political distraction to bolster the reputation of the Justice Department while it is investigating President Trump's ties with Russia. Representative Jerrold Nadler of New York, the Democratic's highest-ranking Judicial Committee, described the chamber vote "clearly as a pretext for a move against Mr. Rosenstein that the majority has already planned."
Representative Luis V. Gutiérrez, Democrat of Illinois, drove home point to Mr. Rosenstein: "They want to indict you, they want to charge you, they want to get rid of you. Mr. Rosenstein, good luck, we are in the minority. "
Since he has appointed Robert S. Mueller III as special advisor, Mr. Rosenstein has become one of the main targets of Republicans of the House criticizing the ongoing investigation. Thursday's resolution passed along lines 226 to 183, while he and other departmental officials were working hard to respond to the Committee's requests. and the House Intelligence Committee
The Department is making a good faith effort to respond to Republican demands, and at least one of its Chairs, Justice Committee Representative Robert W. Goodlatte, has stated that measure of thursday was not really necessary
.
"For more than eight months, they have had the opportunity to choose transparency, but they have chosen to retain information and to hinder the efforts of the Congress to control", said North Carolina representative Mark Meadows, one of the sponsors of Thursday's resolution that raised the possibility of an impeachment this week. "If Rod Rosenstein and the Justice Department have nothing to hide , they certainly did not do so. "
Thursday 's hearing was convened to allow law enforcement officials to ask questions about . Departmental Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz He found that the FBI broke with longstanding policy in his management of the Clinton case by email, severely damaged his reputation and opened the door to charges of political bias The report criticizes two long-time FBI officials, Pet Strzok and Lisa Page, who exchanged voluminous texts denigrating Mr. Trump as they helped to conduct the investigation into the campaign of Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Trump.
But in the courtroom, Republicans have come up with a wide range of topics, including now familiar and largely unsupported accusations against Mr. Rosenstein and the Special Advisor 's investigation that "there is no question. he supervises. One by one, the attorney general's attorney sought to dispose of it
Contrary to Mr. Trump's repeated assertions – including in a Thursday morning tweet – Mr. Rosenstein stated that he "was not aware of any disqualification" conflict of interest "involving Mr. Mueller.
Rep. John Ratcliffe, Republican of Texas, asked if Mr. Mueller had correctly addressed the potential taint of political bias brought by Mr. Strzok to the case. Mr. Rosenstein was confident that Mr. Mueller had taken "appropriate steps" to do so and that he would continue to do so.
Rep. Jim Jordan, Republican of Ohio, insisted to Mr. Rosenstein about the media. Staff of the House Intelligence Committee with a summons to appear during a heated conflict this year. Mr. Rosenstein disputed that, too, dare his accusers to contradict his denial under oath.
He also repelled Republican criticism of his role by endorsing the secret surveillance of a former Trump campaign aide.
I find that I did something wrong, so I will respect that judgment, but I think it's highly, highly improbable, "said Mr. Rosenstein.
Trey's Representative Gowdy, a South Carolina Republican who publicly supported the Mueller investigation, told Rosenstein: "If you have evidence of wrongdoing from a member of the campaign Trump, present it to the grand jury If you have evidence that this president acted inappropriately, present it to the American people There is an old saying that justice delayed is justice denied. "
Rosenstein has replied that Mr. Mueller was acting "as quickly as possible" to conclude his work and that the investigation had not lasted so long, given his mandate.
In a tense back and forth with Mr. Jordan, Mr. Rosenstein said, "Your use of this to personally attack me is deeply wrong."
At one point, Mr. Rosenstein assured legislators, "I am not a Democrat, and I am not sorry" – a reference to Mr. Trump's frequent complaint that the Russian investigation is led by "13 Angry Democrats".
Wray also made it clear that he was not happy to be stuck in a fight with the Republicans: "When I was busy running my own business in a private firm in Atlanta , I did not think I was going to spend the first 10 months of my job watching the barrel of a scornful quote for a conduct that happened long before I even thought I was the FBI "[19659002] The Judiciary Committee, which had been away from the spotlight for about a year, stepped up its own investigation into the FBI's handling of the Clinton affair and some aspects of the Russian investigation in recent weeks. On Wednesday, lawmakers on the Judiciary Committee interviewed Mr. Strzok for nearly 11 hours about his messages with Ms. Page and her role in both cases. Strzok said the messages had been taken out of context and did not affect his work, and Democrats on Wednesday night called for the interview report to be made public [19659009]. are trying desperately to find something – no matter what – to undermine Special Advisor Mueller's investigation into the Trump campaign, "said Nadler on Wednesday and Elijah E. Cummings, the senior Democrat the Government Oversight and Reform Committee. night. "Unfortunately for them, they completely failed."
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