Fox News legal analyst Judge Andrew Napolitano disagrees with Republicans who are trying to remove Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein from overseeing the federal Russia investigation.
“Improperly signing off on a [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] warrant, staying in a position of a conflict of interest — where you could be a witness in a case and you’re managing the case — those are good arguments for ethical violations, but not impeachable offenses,” Napolitano said Thursday morning on Fox News.
.@Judgenap on efforts to impeach Rosenstein: Improperly signing off on a FISA warrant & staying in a position of a conflict of interest are good arguments for ethical violations, but not for impeachable offenses pic.twitter.com/c69xmUA2PN
— FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) July 26, 2018
A group of Republican lawmakers — spearheaded by Rep. Mark Meadows of North Carolina — filed a resolution Wednesday to impeach Rosenstein, citing that the Department of Justice suppressed “embarrassing documents and information.”
“The stonewalling over this last year has been just as bad or worse than under the Obama administration. Multiple times we’ve caught DOJ officials hiding information from Congress, withholding relevant documents, or even outright ignoring congressional subpoenas,” Meadows said in a statement.
“The DOJ is keeping information from Congress. Enough is enough,” Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio added in a statement. “It’s time to hold Mr. Rosenstein accountable for blocking Congress’s constitutional oversight role.”
The lawmakers also blamed Rosenstein for not appointing a special second counsel to oversee the FBI’s behavior related to the Russia investigation and voiced concerns about Rosenstein being a potential witness in the probe and claimed he ought to recuse himself.
Napolitano admitted that he usually concurs with the group of conservative lawmakers who are behind the filing, but said he remains opposed to their efforts on this issue.
“On this, I profoundly disagree with them,” Napolitano said. “It doesn’t matter what I think. The Constitution says there’s a very, very narrow basis for impeachment and that’s intentional.”
“Treason — this is directly from the Constitution — bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors,” Napolitano continued.
Democrats, including Rep. Jerrold Nadler of New York, Elijah Cummings of Maryland, and Adam Schiff of California have dismissed the effort from Republicans, and have expressed confidence that Rosenstein will not be impeached.
“It is a panicked and dangerous attempt to undermine an ongoing criminal investigation in an effort to protect President Trump as the walls are closing in around him and his associates,” the Democrats said in a statement.
