Scalise says he supports effort by conservative lawmakers to impeach Rosenstein
WASHINGTON - House Majority Whip Steve Scalise said Thursday that he supports an effort by conservative lawmakers to impeach Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, calling it "leverage" to get the Justice Department to provide Congress with more documents related to the Russia probe.
Scalise, a Louisiana Republican, who is the third-ranking Republican in the House and is eyeing a bid to become speaker, said during an interview with Fox News that he would vote for the resolution if it reaches the floor but would not say if he expects a vote Thursday before members leave for summer recess.
"It's more about leverage to let the Justice Department know we're serious about getting the final information they haven't sent us," Scalise told The Washington Post.
"This is another tool to get Justice to comply with our subpoenas and our demands for documents that the American people deserve to get," he said. "They need to start complying. Obviously they have given us a number of things, but they've still held back some of the documents we need to get as part of our oversight."
Scalise's comments came a day after a group of 11 members introduced the resolution calling for Rosenstein's impeachment, marking a dramatic escalation in the battle over the special counsel investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Lawmakers who are part of the effort, led by Reps. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., and Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, have accused Rosenstein of withholding documents and being insufficiently transparent in his handling of the probe led by special counsel Robert Mueller III.
Jordan would not say whether he will try to force a vote on the resolution Thursday. He said he had raised the possibility with House leaders of an alternative resolution holding Rosenstein in contempt of Congress.
"Contempt makes sense to do," Jordan said before heading into votes Thursday.
Justice Department officials have said they have provided the vast majority of information sought in subpoenas from two key House committees - and are nearly done with providing all the outstanding information requested in those subpoenas.
Democrats have said that House Republicans' clashes with Rosenstein are little more than a pretext to weaken Mueller's efforts.
Some Republicans have questioned the wisdom of the effort.
"Reckless publicity stunt," Rep. Carlos Curbelo, a Florida Republican, tweeted Wednesday night. "No different from Dems who filed articles of impeachment against the President some months ago. What a sad, pathetic game of 'how low can you go?'"
Meadows and Jordan are leaders of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, a bloc whose members have been among the most persistent critics of Rosenstein. All 11 lawmakers who filed the resolution are members.
Scalise said he is "very disappointed" in the Justice Department.
"They need to be transparent to the American people," he said. "We've given them a lot of time, and it's time for them to take this serious, to turn over the remaining documents and stop stonewalling and stop trying to hide the facts from the American people."
In a joint statement Wednesday, the top Democrats on three House committees called the resolution a "direct attack" on the Mueller probe and warned President Donald Trump not to use it as a pretext to fire Rosenstein or Mueller.
"Any attempt to do so will be viewed by Congress and the American people as further proof of an effort to obstruct justice with severe consequences for Trump and his presidency," said Reps. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, Jerrold Nadler of New York and Adam Schiff of California.
Meadows and Jordan filed the resolution Wednesday, a little more than an hour after leaving a meeting with top Justice Department officials, including FBI General Counsel Dana Boente and Inspector General Michael Horowitz. Leaving the meeting, Meadows said there was "still great frustration" with the pace at which subpoenaed documents had been produced to Congress.
But that was far from a unanimous opinion for the lawmakers who participated. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy, a South Carolina Republican, said he believed that Justice Department officials were making progress toward complying with the subpoena and that impeaching Rosenstein would be a bad idea.
"I'm not a big fan of drama," Gowdy said. "Impeachment is a punishment; it's not a remedy. If you're looking for documents, then you want compliance, and you want whatever moves you toward compliance."