Politics

GOP Lawmakers Want DOJ Watchdog To Investigate Rosenstein

They want the Justice Department's inspector general to review allegations that Rosenstein threatened lawmakers and congressional staffers.

GOP Lawmakers Want DOJ Watchdog To Investigate Rosenstein
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Two GOP lawmakers asked the Justice Department's inspector general to review allegations made against Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.

In their letter, dated Monday, House Freedom Caucus leaders Rep. Mark Meadows and Rep. Jim Jordan cited an unnamed witness and a Fox News report that claimed Rosenstein threatened to subpoena emails and phone records from House Intelligence Committee lawmakers and staff for sending written oversight requests. That allegedly happened during a January meeting. 

A Justice Department official denied the allegations to CNN last month. 

And Rosenstein pushed back against the report in a House Judiciary Committee hearing, noting "there's no way to subpoena phone calls."

Meadows and Jordan have both been critical of how the Justice Department and Rosenstein have handled the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Politico reported just last week that the two lawmakers were were looking to drum up support in Congress to impeach Rosenstein.