Good government involves aggressive congressional oversight, and Congress has often fallen short of that duty. Conservative governance requires prudence and self-restraint, and the push to impeach Rod Rosenstein lacks both.
It is within Congress’s right to obtain all sources and methods that the FBI uses in counterintelligence investigations, but that doesn’t mean it would be prudent. May does not mean should.
In the same way, it is within Republicans’ power and right to impeach Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, but that doesn’t mean it would be a good idea.
Saying this should not be taken as a pre-emptive exculpation of Rosenstein. He has been less than exemplary on transparency and accountability to Congress. While the deputy attorney general must navigate an almost impossibly complex course in managing special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation in an arena of absolute partisan rancor, he has often treated Republican-led oversight committees with disdain. Many requests for documents and testimony have met needless, deliberate, and suspect obstruction.
The Justice Department’s boss is the American people, and Congress is the Justice Department’s supervisor. Rosenstein owes his supervisors candor.
Still, Reps. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Mark Meadows, R-N.C., do not serve good government with their impeachment campaign.
Jordan and Meadows make two primary contentions in their impeachment proceedings. First, that Rosenstein has failed to provide them with adequate access to documents they require for their oversight responsibilities. Second, that Rosenstein has behaved improperly in authorizing FISA surveillance warrants targeting former Trump campaign official Carter Page.
[Mark Meadows: We can go around Paul Ryan to impeach Rod Rosenstein]
We view both these arguments separately or collectively as insufficient cause for justifiable impeachment.
While it is true that Rosenstein has prevaricated in providing relevant documents, and for reasons that do not have to do with national security but have merely been efforts to save his department embarrassment, we note that he has recently made greater effort to address congressional concerns. We also note that reliable conservative leaders in Congress such as Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., have welcomed the new level of cooperation.
But there is an additional concern, which is that the impeachment proceedings would serve no useful purpose.
While oversight of the FBI’s activity is crucial, so is the FBI’s work. It would be folly to provide members of Congress and their staff with detailed identification of covert sources. To do so would invite leaks and thus deny the FBI and other government agencies the ability to attract and retain sources. It would also seriously diminish the willingness of foreign allies to share their sources and methods of intelligence with Washington. Sharing exists on the basis of trust that what is shared will not end up on the front page of this publication or others.
This is would be the risk in impeachment proceedings, and for what?
There is no chance that the necessary 16 Democrats would vote to remove Rosenstein, so even a successful impeachment vote in the House, which far from guaranteed, would hit a dead end.
Finally, the constant attacks by House Republicans and the White House on the DOJ and Mueller all make President Trump look guilty. If he did nothing wrong, why are Republicans so intent on stopping the investigation? The answer may be either that they are currying his favor, or that they believe the investigation is meritless and damaging to democratic government, or both. But that still does not make stepping in a good idea.
A better way to address Republican concerns is to allow Mueller to complete his investigation expeditiously, and to keep demanding documents as necessary from Rosenstein.
Plenty of politicians pursue their goals by any means necessary. Plenty of lawmakers believe that every problem deserves a robust congressional response. Conservatives, on the other hand, temper the exercise of power with prudence.
[Also read: Jeff Sessions defends Rod Rosenstein after GOP calls for impeachment]
