Jordan wants Rosenstein to testify before House Judiciary Committee

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), a leading voice in the conservative House Freedom Caucus, on Monday called for Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to testify before the House Judiciary Committee, regardless of whether he remains in his position beyond this week.

Jordan’s push for testimony comes in the wake of a New York Times article last week that said Rosenstein discussed secretly recording President Trump and potentially invoking the 25th Amendment with Cabinet officials to remove the president from office.

{mosads}”Regardless of what happens to Mr. Rosenstein, he needs to appear in front of the Judiciary Committee,” Jordan, a member of the committee, tweeted on Monday. “You can’t have the head of the Justice Department (even if it’s sarcasm) talking to subordinates about recording the Commander in Chief. He needs to answer our questions.”

Jordan is making a bid to be the top Republican in the House after Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) retires at the end of this Congress.

The office of Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Trump is slated to meet with Rosenstein, the No. 2 official at the Justice Department, on Thursday following news reports on Monday that Rosenstein was going to resign or be fired by the White House.

Top Democrats have called on Rosenstein not to resign from his role at the Department of Justice (DOJ), arguing such a move could be detrimental to special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, which is overseen by Rosenstein.

“Under no circumstances should Rod Rosenstein resign,” Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, tweeted Monday. “This would place the Mueller investigation in even greater jeopardy. Rosenstein should continue to do his job, protect the independence of the DOJ, and if the President intends to obstruct justice, force Trump to fire him.”