A group of Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives launched an effort Wednesday to impeach Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, accusing him of misconduct and failing to adequately share information related to the special counsel probe of Russian influence in the 2016 U.S. election.
Rosenstein has overseen the investigation since his boss at the Department of Justice, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, recused himself from the matter.
Rosenstein appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel, and to date Mueller’s team has indicted 32 people, including several who worked for President Donald Trump’s campaign.
Trump and his allies have repeatedly decried the probe as a “witch hunt,” and Trump has denied his campaign colluded with Russia to help him win the 2016 election.
Rep. Mark Meadows, one of the co-sponsors of the measure, said Wednesday. “We have had enough.”
“We can’t get answers for the American people if we can’t get information from the DOJ. It’s time to impeach Rod Rosenstein,” said Rep. Jim Jordan, another co-sponsor, via Twitter.
A Justice Department spokeswoman told VOA the department did not have a comment on the articles of impeachment against Rosenstein.
If the measure does come before the full House for a vote, it will not happen soon. House members head back to their home districts for a recess beginning Thursday and are not scheduled to return to work on Capitol Hill until September.
Republican leaders, however, have said in recent weeks that they are satisfied with the Justice Department’s progress. House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Trey Gowdy said after the meeting that he was pleased with the department’s efforts and wouldn’t support Rosenstein’s impeachment. House Speaker Paul Ryan has also said he is satisfied with progress on the document production.
Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, criticized the impeachment effort.
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi responded to the impeachment articles:
VOA’s Masood Farivar and The Associated Press contributed to the report.
