Trump threatens to ‘get involved’ in Justice Department dispute
President Trump on Wednesday threatened to “get involved” in a roiling dispute between conservative House Republicans and the top Justice Department official overseeing the Russia investigation.
“A Rigged System — They don’t want to turn over Documents to Congress. What are they afraid of? Why so much redacting? Why such unequal ‘justice?’ At some point I will have no choice but to use the powers granted to the Presidency and get involved!” Trump tweeted.
A Rigged System – They don’t want to turn over Documents to Congress. What are they afraid of? Why so much redacting? Why such unequal “justice?” At some point I will have no choice but to use the powers granted to the Presidency and get involved!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 2, 2018
Trump’s comments come after it was revealed that conservatives in the House Freedom Caucus have drafted articles of impeachment against Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
The document makes a series of charges against Rosenstein, including that he broke federal law by refusing to comply with a congressional subpoena for records related to FBI surveillance during the 2016 presidential race and has slow-walked materials to lawmakers investigating possible misconduct at the department.
Republicans have accused the FBI of improperly surveilling Trump associates during the election, including campaign foreign policy adviser Carter Page. Federal officials have said the surveillance warrant was properly approved by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.
Rosenstein fired back at the latest threats during a Tuesday speech, joking that Republicans in Congress “can’t even resist leaking their own drafts.”
“There have been people who have been making threats privately and publicly against me for quite some time, and I think they should understand by now the Department of Justice is not going to be extorted,” Rosenstein said.
Critics say GOP scrutiny of Rosenstein is an effort to stymie the special counsel investigation into Russia’s election interference in 2016, which is looking into whether the Trump campaign cooperated with Moscow and whether the president has obstructed justice.
Rosenstein, the No. 2 official at the Justice Department, is overseeing the probe because Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself. Democrats and former law enforcement officials call the scrutiny of Rosenstein a thinly veiled attempt to lay the groundwork to fire him.
Trump has waged a months-long war of words against both Sessions and Rosenstein, repeatedly calling the Russia investigation a “witch hunt.”
The president has repeatedly downplayed the chances he would fire Rosenstein, Sessions or special counsel Robert Mueller, but he has also not ruled it out.
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