A day after filing articles of impeachment against Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, House Freedom Caucus chair Mark Meadows appeared to soften his stance and…
A day after filing articles of impeachment against Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, House Freedom Caucus chair Mark Meadows appeared to soften his stance and said contempt charges could instead be pursued if the Department of Justice fails to provide Congress the documents it seeks related to Russian election meddling and Hillary Clinton’s secret emails.
“I think the very first order of business would be moving the House to a contempt vote,” the North Carolina Republican told Capitol Hill reporters when asked what would happen if the DOJ does not cooperate by the time Congress returns from its August recess. The House of Representatives is scheduled to start its recess late Thursday.
Earlier Thursday, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan criticized the impeachment effort Mr. Meadows and 10 co-sponsors had undertaken, saying it could even end up hurting the chances of confirming President Trump’s Supreme Court nomination.
“I don’t think this rises to the level of high crime or misdemeanor,” Mr. Ryan said.
Mr. Ryan said those document requests are valid and must be answered — but he said targeting Mr. Rosenstein was not the answer.
Speaking later, Mr. Meadows explained his change of mind stemmed from “very good conversations with the leadership team [and] with Chairman Goodlatte [of the House Judiciary Committee], on a path forward.”
Mr. Meadows, who along with House Intelligence Committee chairman, Rep. Devin Nunes, has harshly criticized the DOJ and FBI and engaged in a months-long battle over the documents.
Wednesday’s impeachment articles, aimed at the man who supervises special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, marked a major escalation in that war.
Mr. Meadows said impeachment remained an option but added that the DOJ and FBI now had “one last chance” to comply.
“I think it is our desire to have more of a contempt process, which obviously has to have a partner with the Speaker and I think hopefully they will at least acknowledge we’ve made some reasonable concessions to give DOJ and FBI,” he said.
