Timothy Birdnow

Republicans have begun the impeachment process for Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.

According to Fox News:

"A group of 11 House Republicans introduced five articles of impeachment against Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein Wednesday evening.

The impeachment articles accuse Rosenstein of intentionally withholding documents and information from Congress, failure to comply with congressional subpoenas and abuse of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA)." End excerpt.

The effort is being led by Mark Meadows, the man who forced John Boehner out of his Speakership.

There are some problems with this, though:

"In an exclusive interview on Fox News' "The Ingraham Angle" on Wednesday night, Meadows said it would be possible to effect a so-called "privileged" resolution on impeaching Rosenstein as early as Thursday morning, which would require a vote within two days -- although the impending House recess would likely delay that vote unless it were held quickly."

End excerpt.

A delay means it will wait until after the summer break, which lasts a month (nice work when you can get it.)

Needless to say the Democrats are furious.

California's aging hipster Dianne Feinstein had this to say:

There are no grounds for House Republicans to impeach Rod Rosenstein. Trying to remove him for failing to disclose sources, methods and evidence from a criminal investigation is beyond the pale. This is partisan nonsense. It’s dangerous for the rule of law and it needs to stop.

— Sen Dianne Feinstein (@SenFeinstein) July 26, 2018

She apparently doesn't understand that that is precisely the kind of oversight given to Congress and an entirely appropriate action for open defiance of Congressional investigators. Imagine if this was a Democrat-controlled Congress demanding these documents and not being given them.

Congress is a joke if it does not compel those under its authority to disclose information. May as well have a king.

I hope they remove Little Rod from his post. But two thirds of the Senate will have to vote him out and that just isn't going to happen. But if they have to vote just before the election at least we can get the Democrats on record as obfuscators and partisan hacks. We all know they are, but it will show the low information voters exactly how bad they are.

Such theatrics are sometimes necessary. And who knows; maybe Congress will find a statesmen-like bone in their gelatinous bodies in the end.

UPDATE:

CBS reports that Meadows now says he will not push for impeachment but will instead focus on Contempt of Congress after meeting with the GOP RINO leadership (aka House Squeeker Paul "Pee Wee" Ryan).

Rush Limbaugh argued on his radio show that this is probably because there are no "high crimes and misdemeanors" here - something I disagree with as Obstruction of Justice is clearly a crime. But convicting Rosenstein of Contempt of Congress will clearly make him guilty of a crime so it would be easier to impeach him. The reason Meadows withdrew this is because he is not getting any support from the Republican leadership.

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at 08:03 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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