House Resolution calling for impeachment of Rod Rosenstein [Full Text]
Reps. Mark Meadows and Jim Jordan announced Wednesday that they had crafted articles of impeachment against U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. This morning, Meadows uploaded the following to his House of Representatives web page.
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(Original Signature of Member)
115TH CONGRESS H. Res. ____ 2D SESSION
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 25, 2018
Mr. MEADOWS and MR. JORDAN submitted the following resolution; which was referred
to the Committee on ________________
RESOLUTION
Impeaching Rod Rosenstein, the Deputy Attorney General of the United States, for
high crimes and misdemeanors.
Resolved, that Rod Rosenstein, Deputy Attorney General of the United States, is
impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors, and that the following articles of
impeachment be exhibited to the Senate:
Articles of impeachment exhibited by the House of Representatives of the United
States of America in the name of itself and all of the people of the United States of
America, against Rod Rosenstein, Deputy Attorney General of the United States,
in maintenance and support of its impeachment against him for high crimes and
misdemeanors.
Article I:
On March 2, 2017, Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from any
matter potentially relating to the 2016 campaign. Upon the Attorney General’s
recusal, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein assumed responsibility to
oversee the Department’s response to the congressional investigations of the
Department of Justice and FBI.
On July 27, 2017, House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte and 19 Members of
Congress requested a second special counsel to conduct a comprehensive
investigation into matters related to the 2016 presidential campaign that appear to
be outside the scope of Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation.
On September 26, 2017, House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte and 13
Members of Congress sent a letter repeating the call for a second Special Counsel.
On March 6, 2018, Chairman Goodlatte and Chairman Gowdy called for the
appointment of a second special counsel to investigate these matters due to the
actual or potential conflicts of interests related to certain prosecutorial and
investigative decisions made and not made by the Department of Justice in 2016
and 2017.
On March 29, 2018, Attorney General Sessions wrote in a letter to Chairman
Chuck Grassley, Chairman Bob Goodlatte, and Chairman Trey Gowdy that he
would not appoint a second Special Counsel to investigate these matters despite the
apparent and actual conflicts of interests of current and former Department of
Justice and FBI employees.
On May 22, 2018, Rep. Lee Zeldin, along with 31 Members of Congress,
introduced H. Res. 907, a resolution expressing the sense of Congress that the
Attorney General should appoint a second Special Counsel.
On July 21, 2018, the Department of Justice released a heavily redacted set of
documents containing the Carter Page FISA warrant application and subsequent
renewals. Upon reviewing the documents, it is evident Deputy Attorney General
Rosenstein signed an FBI application to renew FISA surveillance on Carter Page.
As such, his conduct in authorizing the FISA surveillance at issue in the joint
congressional investigation makes him a fact witness central to the ongoing
investigation of potential FISA abuse. Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein’s
failure to recuse himself in light of this inherent conflict of interest and failure to
recommend the appointment of a second Special Counsel constitute dereliction of
duty.
Wherefore, Rod Rosenstein, by such conduct, warrants impeachment and trial, and
removal from office.
Article II:
Mr. Rosenstein and the Department of Justice have repeatedly failed to produce
documents requested by the Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on
Oversight and Government Reform, despite the committees’ constitutional duty to
conduct oversight of the FBI and broader Department of Justice.
On October 24, 2017, the Committee on Judiciary and the Committee on Oversight
and Government Reform opened a joint investigation into the decisions made by
the Department of Justice in 2016 and 2017 related to their handling of the
Secretary Clinton email investigation.
On November 3, 2017, Chairman Goodlatte, Chairman Gowdy, and four Members
of Congress, sent a letter to Attorney General Sessions and Deputy Attorney
General Rosenstein requesting documents related to certain prosecutorial and
investigative decisions the Department of Justice’s made during the 2016 election.
On December 12, 2017, Chairman Goodlatte, Chairman Gowdy, and other
members sent a letter in furtherance of their previous document requests, urging
the Department to provide withheld documents, and to comply with the
Committees’ previous instructions to provide a privilege log for documents
withheld or redacted on the basis of a privilege. Mr. Rosenstein and the
Department of Justice have refused to provide a privilege log for these documents,
despite producing documents to Congress that are so redacted they contain little
probative information.
On February 1, 2018 Chairman Goodlatte sent a letter requesting documents
related to alleged abuses of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (“FISA”)
related to members of the Trump campaign. As Deputy Attorney General of the
United States, Mr. Rosenstein is to act on behalf of the Attorney General for
purposes of authorizing searches and electronic surveillance under the FISA.
On March 22, 2018, Chairman Goodlatte issued a subpoena compelling Mr.
Rosenstein and the Department of Justice to produce documents after the
Department failed to fully comply with the Committee on the Judiciary and the
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform’s document requests. In
requesting documents related to alleged abuses of FISA related to members of the
Trump campaign, the subpoena requested:
- All documents and communications with the Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Court (“FISC”) referring or relating to any Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Act (“FISA”) applications associated with
Carter Page or individuals on President Trump’s 2016 presidential
campaign or part of the Trump administration; - All documents and communications referring or relating to FISC
hearings and deliberations, including any court transcripts, related to any
FISA applications associated with Carter Page or the Trump campaign or
Trump administration; - All documents and communications referring or relating to defensive
briefings provided by the Department of Justice or FBI to the 2016
presidential campaigns of Hillary Clinton or President Trump; and - All documents and communications referring or relating to proposed,
recommended, or actual FISA coverage on the Clinton Foundation or
persons associated or in communication with the Clinton Foundation.
The Department of Justice has violated this congressional subpoena by failing to
fully produce each of these categories of documents.
Following the issuance of the March 22 subpoena, Mr. Rosenstein and the
Department of Justice have refused to comply with a Memorandum-ofUnderstanding
negotiated with the Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee
on Oversight and Government Reform to expedite the production of documents.
Whereas the Department of Justice has missed document production deadlines,
produced duplicative pages of information, and has redacted pages to the point
where they contain little probative information.
Whereas additional documents provided to members of congress in July 2018 by
whistleblowers demonstrate under Mr. Rosenstein’s leadership the Department of
Justice and FBI have knowingly and intentionally withheld documents within the
scope of the joint congressional investigation to avoid oversight.
On June 27, 2018, witness testimony provided in a transcribed interview with
members of the Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on Oversight and
Government Reform revealed the Department of Justice and Special Counsel
Mueller had instructed material fact witnesses to refuse to provide testimony
within the jurisdiction of the committees’ joint investigation; even though much of
this information is not law enforcement sensitive and available through open
source media reporting.
On July 13, 2018, witness testimony provided in a transcribed interview with
members of the Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on Oversight and
Government Reform revealed the Department of Justice had failed to notify
material fact witnesses of repeated congressional requests for their testimony.
Wherefore, Rod Rosenstein, by such conduct, warrants impeachment and trial, and
removal from office.
Article III
Upon in camera review of documents at the Department of Justice, it was revealed
the Department, under the supervision of Mr. Rosenstein, attempted to conceal
certain facts as documents provided to Congress were heavily and unnecessarily
redacted. Most of the redacted documents containing material investigative
information did not contain law-enforcement-sensitive information, the
Department’s stated basis for redactions.
The Department of Justice, under the supervision of Mr. Rosenstein, unnecessarily
redacted the price of FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe’s $70,000 conference
table because it was potentially embarrassing information.
The Department of Justice, under the supervision of Mr. Rosenstien, redacted FBI
Agent Peter Strzok’s personal relationship with FISC Judge Rudolph Contreras.
The Department of Justice, under the supervision of Mr. Rosenstein, redacted the
names of high-ranking Obama administration officials, such as former White
House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough.
The Department of Justice, under the supervision of Mr. Rosenstein, redacted the
names of high-ranking FBI officials, such as former Deputy Director Andrew
McCabe.
The Department of Justice acknowledged the unnecessary redactions and agreed
that some information should not have been redacted in an April 16, 2018 letter to
Representatives Meadows and Jordan.
Wherefore, Rod Rosenstein, by such conduct, warrants impeachment and trial, and
removal from office.
Article IV
On May 17, 2017, Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein appointed Robert S.
Mueller III as the Special Counsel to investigate possible ties between the Trump
campaign and Russia. In May 2017, Mr. Rosenstein authored the initial memo
articulating the scope of the Special Counsel investigation’s jurisdiction.
On August 2, 2017, Mr. Rosenstein drafted a memo articulating the scope of the
Special Counsel investigation which began by noting “the following allegations
were within the scope of the investigation at the time of your appointment and are
within the scope of the order,” with nearly everything following the mention of
those initial allegations redacted.
Mr. Rosenstein’s memo is a classified document and almost completely redacted,
raising concerns the appointment of Robert S. Mueller III as Special Counsel
began outside the scope of regulations for special counsel investigations by
originating on a counterintelligence, rather than criminal, basis.
Mr. Rosenstein’s memo also raises concerns given Special Counsel investigations
are not warranted by the existence of mere allegations, and require there be facts
evident warranting a “criminal investigation of a person or matter.”
Mr. Rosenstein’s memo raises fundamental concerns related to the government’s
basis for alleging “collusion” between the Trump campaign and Russia, and
whether these allegations resulted in potential crimes warranting investigation.
Despite the significant public interest in the matter and the constitutional authority
of Congress to conduct oversight of the Department of Justice, Mr. Rosenstein has
repeatedly failed to provide a less-redacted version of this scope memo, even in a
classified setting.
Wherefore, Rod Rosenstein, by such conduct, warrants impeachment and trial, and
removal from office.
Article V
In his capacity as Deputy Attorney General of the United States, Mr. Rosenstein
oversaw the potentially improper authorization of FISA searches and electronic
surveillance of members of the Trump campaign.
As evidenced by the July 21, 2018 release of the Carter Page FISA application,
under Mr. Rosenstein’s supervision, the “dossier” compiled by Christopher Steele
on behalf of the Democratic National Committee and the Hillary Clinton campaign
formed a material part of the FISA application.
Under Mr. Rosenstein’s supervision, the Department of Justice and FBI
intentionally obfuscated the fact the dossier was originally a political opposition
research document before the FISC.
Under Mr. Rosenstein’s supervision, Christopher Steele’s political opposition
research was neither vetted before it was used in October 2016 nor fully revealed
to the FISC, given Director Comey’s June 2017 testimony the dossier was
“salacious and unverified.”
As Deputy Attorney General, Mr. Rosenstein has failed in his responsibility for the
proper authorization of searches under FISA, and his conduct related to the
surveillance of American citizens working on the Trump campaign has
permanently undermined both public and congressional confidence in significant
counterintelligence program processes.
Under Mr. Rosenstein’s supervision, the public’s confidence in the integrity of the
FISA process depends on the court’s ability to hold the government to the highest standard-particularly
as it relates to surveillance of American citizens;
Given Mr. Rosenstein’s oversight of the FISA process is a central issue in the
current congressional investigation into certain decisions made and not made by
the Department of Justice and FBI in 2016 and 2017, he has actual and potential
conflicts of interest requiring the appointment of a second Special Counsel.
Wherefore, Rod Rosenstein, by such conduct, warrants impeachment and trial, and
removal from office.
Original PDF of the Resolution calling for Rod Rosenstein’s impreachment
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