Republican lawmakers blasted the Justice Department following a report that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein threatened to subpoena records from House Intelligence Committee members and staff, with one conservative lawmaker saying staff have been “physically shaking” in his office due to Rosenstein’s “threats.”
Fox News reported that emails exchanged by committee staffers referencing a private meeting in January claimed Rosenstein told lawmakers and staff they would be subpoenaed for emails, phone records, and other information related to their requests to the Justice Department’s investigation into Russian meddling.
One House committee aide in an email accused Rosenstein of launching a “sustained personal attack” against a congressional staffer “in retaliation for vigorous oversight,” and said the subpoena threat from the DOJ’s No. 2 was “downright chilling.”
The Justice Department and the FBI have refuted the characterizations of the January meeting detailed in the email exchanges.
“The FBI disagrees with a number of characterizations of the meeting as described in the excerpts of a staffer’s emails provided to us by Fox News,” the bureau said in a statement.
A DOJ official further said Rosenstein “never threatened anyone in the room with a criminal investigation.”
In a statement to Fox News, Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., said “the DOJ’s intimidation and stone-walling tactics have gone too far.”
“I’ve heard first-hand from congressional staff following threats delivered by Rod Rosenstein,” he said. “Staff has literally been scared to the point of physically shaking in my congressional office out of concern for their family.”
Gaetz, who is not a member of the intelligence panel, said Rosenstein should recuse himself from the Justice Department’s investigations involving the Trump campaign, as well as the conduct of FBI and Justice Department employees.
“Now, from refusing to produce documents to improperly redacting documents to threatening our staff, it is clear that Rod Rosenstein will use every tool at his disposal to frustrate congressional oversight,” Gaetz told Fox News.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said during an interview with Fox News on Tuesday that he has “just about had it with the Rosenstein approach.”
“We have a duty to oversee the Department of Justice, and here’s what I’d say to Mr. Rosenstein: If you don’t believe that the Department of Justice was off the rails, you are clearly not looking at the same Department of Justice I’m looking at,” he said.
But during an interview with Fox News on Tuesday night, Attorney General Jeff Sessions defended Rosenstein.
“I’m confident that Deputy Rosenstein, 28 years in the Department of Justice, did not improperly threaten anyone on that occasion, but we do believe that we have tried to be cooperative with them and made progress … in fact have had some good relationships with top members of Congress,” Sessions said.
The attorney general’s comments outraged Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, who said he was “flabbergasted” by the remarks.
“I mean what is the attorney general saying?” Jordan said during an interview on Fox News.
“Rod Rosenstein was threatening members of the House Intelligence Committee for doing their job, for trying to get answers for the American people, and the attorney general says, ‘that’s OK, we’re doing just fine?’” the Ohio Republican continued.
The closed-door January meeting described by House Intelligence Committee staff in the emails coincided with Committee Chairman Devin Nunes’ bevy of claims of surveillance abuse by the Justice Department. Nunes, R-Calif., was also part of the battle between the panel and the department for document requests from the House Intelligence Committee.
