At the Values Voter Summit hosted by FRC Action (the political arm of the Family Research Council) in Washington, D.C., last weekend, Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., foreshadowed news of a possible ouster of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein with a demand that the embattled Justice Department official appear before Congress to explain a New York Times report stating that Rosenstein once suggested that staff interactions with President Trump be recorded in a potential effort to remove the real estate tycoon from office under the 25th Amendment to the Constitution. (Today has seen conflicting reports regarding Rosenstein's employment status in the Trump administration.)
Meadows is a member of the House Freedom Caucus, whose members have sought to impeach Rosenstein, who was overseeing the special counsel investigation into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, apparently on Trump’s behalf.
Management of the investigation fell to Rosenstein after Attorney General Jeff Sessions was compelled to recuse himself, having met several times with Sergei Kislyak, then the Russian Federation’s ambassador to the U.S., during the presidential campaign and transition—a fact that Sessions did not reveal in full during his confirmation hearing.
From Meadows’ remarks at the Values Voter Summit:
But perhaps you’ve seen in recent days – in fact, just yesterday – the headlines come out that Rod Rosenstein talked about actually wearing a wire and going into the Oval Office to secretly record this president. I think the time is now that we need to hold those at DOJ and FBI accountable. The time – it’s past time, and it is time that we hold them accountable. Yes, without a doubt, it is time. It is time. So I think Rod needs to come before Congress this week and explain under oath what exactly he said and what he didn’t say. I think it’s time.
Now, we can be concerned about comments about wearing a wire that weren’t deployed that they’re talking about, but I can tell you I’m more concerned about wires that were deployed that they’re not talking about when they’re spying on a Trump campaign. It is time that they come clean on that. We need to declassify the documents and make sure the American people can see for themselves. It is time. It is time.
[…]
So here is my promise to you from many members of the Freedom Caucus who believe that we stand for the millions of forgotten men and women who think that this city has forgotten them. My good friend Jim Jordan and I were talking last night. And actually Jim is an unbelievable patriot, I’m here to tell you, an unbelievable patriot. We’re going to continue to stay engaged until this Russian hoax gets exposed for what it is, and that is a fake news story of gargantuan proposal (sic).
