[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1028 Introduced in House (IH)]
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115th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. RES. 1028
Impeaching Rod Rosenstein, the Deputy Attorney General of the United
States, for high crimes and misdemeanors.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 25, 2018
Mr. Meadows (for himself, Mr. Jordan, Mr. Jody B. Hice of Georgia, Mr.
Duncan of South Carolina, Mr. Biggs, Mr. Gohmert, Mr. Gaetz, Mr.
DesJarlais, Mr. Gosar, Mr. Posey, and Mr. Perry) submitted the
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
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:
(1) 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.
(2) 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.
(3) 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.
(4) 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-of-
Understanding 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. Rosenstein,
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.
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