The top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday urged his Democratic colleagues to haul former acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein before Congress.
Ranking Member Doug Collins, R-Ga., called on Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., to convene a hearing to take the testimony of the law enforcement officials or subpoena them for interviews after McCabe admitted he considered secretly taping President Trump.
“The American people have a right to know whether the unelected FBI and DOJ leadership substituted their judgment for the judgment of the American people regarding newly elected President Donald Trump,” Collins wrote. “The Members of our Committee have a responsibility to conduct oversight of the FBI and DOJ, particularly when former high-level officials make such explosive allegations.”
Nadler dismissed the GOP lawmakers’ pleas late Thursday when pressed on whether he was planning any upcoming hearings involving the pair.
“No,” he told the Washington Examiner.
House Republicans on Thursday clamored for McCabe and Rosenstein to face congressional investigators after McCabe told CBS that Rosenstein suggested he wanted to secretly record Trump. He also said he was recruiting Cabinet members to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove the president from office.
McCabe, who was pushed out of the FBI in March 2018 after an internal watchdog probe into an “unauthorized leak” to the media, is currently promoting his new book.
“Rosenstein should be compelled to testify immediately,” House Oversight Committee Ranking Member Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, tweeted.
Rosenstein out talking to the media.
On top of this, earlier we learned Rosenstein was not kidding when he plotted to force the President out of office.
Rosenstein should be compelled to testify immediately. Your move @RepCummings.https://t.co/RN1O2jUzrK
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) February 14, 2019
A representative for House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Devin Nunes, R-Calif., told the Washington Examiner the congressman “strongly believes” Rosenstein should clarify before Congress what he said and did about wearing a wire and trying to oust Trump from the White House.
A staffer for Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., supplemented a tweet from the House Freedom Caucus Chairman and Trump ally, the aide saying “all options” at the minority’s disposal were on the table as they seek answers to their questions. Meadows said earlier that Rosenstein had “no business working at the Department of Justice.”
Rod Rosenstein has no business working at the Department of Justice, and if these latest reports are true, he should not only resign immediately but come before Congress and answer questions
— Mark Meadows (@RepMarkMeadows) February 14, 2019
Rosenstein was slated to speak with House Republicans last October, but negotiations fell through. Discussions then petered out after the GOP lost control of the lower chamber.
The comments from Rosenstein, DOJ’s No. 2, were first reported in 2018 by the New York Times. Sources told the Washington Post and NBC News that his remarks were made in jest.
