Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., hit back at Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein after the No. 2 at the Justice Department said Tuesday his agency would not be extorted by threats of impeachment.
“If he believes being asked to do his job is ‘extortion,’ then Rod Rosenstein should step aside and allow us to find a new Deputy Attorney General—preferably one who is interested in transparency,” Meadows wrote on Twitter.
If he believes being asked to do his job is ‘extortion,’ then Rod Rosenstein should step aside and allow us to find a new Deputy Attorney General—preferably one who is interested in transparency
— Mark Meadows (@RepMarkMeadows) May 1, 2018
The Washington Post and The Hill reported Monday that a group of House Republicans led by Meadows had drafted eight articles of impeachment against Rosenstein.
GOP lawmakers allege Rosenstein is hindering their efforts to obtain documents about FBI surveillance of the Trump campaign during the 2016 presidential election, as well as documents that could show bias among top DOJ officials.
Rosenstein dismissed the drafted articles Tuesday, vowing to not bow under the pressure to resign and criticizing the anonymous manner in which the information was leaked.
In a longer statement released by Meadows’ office Tuesday, the Freedom Caucus chairman said Rosenstein would be mistaken to assume the lack of signatures affixed to the draft articles meant members of Congress are satisfied with his leadership.
“Valid investigative requests from Congress have been slow-walked, stonewalled, and impeded at each step of the way under his watch,” the statement reads.
“If Mr. Rosenstein’s hesitance to produce documents and information to Congress represented an effort to save the Department of Justice from embarrassment, it is too late,” it continues.
Freedom Caucus Chair Meadows Responds to Rosenstein pic.twitter.com/OQqbKJoImY
— Alex Moe (@AlexNBCNews) May 1, 2018
