Obstruction Caucus: House Republicans File Bogus Articles Of Impeachment Against Rod Rosenstein

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appears at a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, June 28, 2018, on Justice Department and FBI actions around the 2016 presidential election. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

The Rantt Rundown: Day 552 of the Trump presidency

The Big Story: On Wednesday, House Freedom Caucus members Reps. Mark Meadows (R-NC) and Jim Jordan (R-OH) filed a resolution, co-sponsored by 9 other Republicans, moving to impeach Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. They’ve threatened to do so for months as a means to undermine Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russia’s interference in American democracy (which Rosenstein oversees), but it appears they finally pulled the trigger. It appears to be a largely symbolic move, as the House heads out for the summer at the end of this week and Meadows did not include a measure that would force a vote. The 5 articles of impeachment are:

• Article 1: Dereliction of duty for not appointing a second special counsel to investigate the President’s political opponent Hillary Clinton.
• Article 2: A claim that the DOJ hasn’t disclosed documents requested by House committees.
• Article 3: They allege Rosenstein attempted to conceal facts in documents turned over because of heavy redactions.
• Artice 4: They allege Rosenstein’s was unwilling to provide a less redacted version of the memo that expanded Mueller’s scope of his probe.
• Article 5: They claim Rosenstein wrongfully authorized FISA surveillance of Trump’s campaign (this has been debunked)

Keep this in mind:

Impeachment has not been carried out against an executive branch employee in 122 years, and the constitution defines it as punishment for “treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors.”
R’s are mad because he didn’t produce the documents they wanted quickly enough. https://t.co/lUdMLZQWqJ

— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) July 25, 2018

The Context: This is nothing more than a coordinated campaign on the part of President Trump, House Republicans, and conservative media to undermine the Russia investigation (which the President is a subject of). This effort has extended into efforts to discredit the DOJ, FBI, and the U.S. Intelligence Community as a whole.

The U.S. Intelligence Community concluded that Russia’s longstanding objective has been to undermine the US-led liberal democratic order and our faith in democratic institutions. For decades, Russian propaganda has aimed to stir racial divisions, attack the credibility of the U.S. government, and try to weaken western influence. Now, we have a President, backed by the full support of his party and propaganda arms like Fox News, executing on our foreign adversary’s primary objectives.

The investigation they’re trying to undermine, which President Trump called a witch hunt on the world stage, is a multi-faceted counterintelligence investigation that probes Russian interference, the Trump campaign’s potential collusion with Russia, and potential obstruction of Justice on the part of President Trump. It also probes financial crimes on the part of Trump’s associates as well as international corruption involving Russia, UAE, Saudi Arabia, etc. Before Rosenstein indicted 12 Russians the other week, the investigation had already yielded at least 79 charges against 23 people or companies, 5 guilty pleas (3 of which came from Trump’s associates), and 1 person sentenced.

In other news…

• CNN: Pompeo defiant in clash over Trump-Putin summit
• The New York Times: U.S. and Europe Outline Deal to Ease Trade Feud
• The Washington Post: Federal judge allows emoluments case against Trump to proceed
• The Washington Post: ‘I’m not going to be a punching bag anymore’: Inside Michael Cohen’s break with Trump
• CNN: White House bans network pool reporter from Rose Garden event
• CNN: Trump blasts Cohen over tape disclosure
• The Atlantic: The White House Transcript Is Missing the Most Explosive Part of the Trump–Putin Press Conference