In April, Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) said there was no need for Congress to pass a bill protecting special counsel Robert Mueller from being fired because he was sure that President Trump wouldn’t fire him.
“I don’t think it’s necessary,” Ryan said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” when asked if he would bring a bill to the House floor if it passed the Senate. “I don’t think he’s going to fire Mueller.”
Mueller, of course, is in charge of the probe into possible collusion by President Trump with Russia in the 2016 election, and Rosenstein oversees this probe.
Ryan now claims he doesn’t support fellow House Republicans move to impeach Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
Representatives Jim Jordan and Mark Meadows along with nine other lawmakers in accused Rosenstein of hiding investigative information from Congress, failure to comply with congressional subpoenas and other alleged misconduct — none of which rises to the level of high crimes and misdemeanor necessary for an impeachment, but all of which does lower the bar for impeachment.
“Do I support impeachment of Rod Rosenstein? No, I do not,” said Ryan, whose stance could make it easier for other Republican members to oppose the measure.
“My deputy, Rod Rosenstein, is highly capable. I have the highest confidence in him,” former top adviser to the Trump campaign during the 2016 election and now Attorney General Jeff Sessions said during an appearance in Boston.
Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi noted that Rosenstein is a Republican appointee and blasted the Republican move as shameless, saying “The attack on Rosenstein of course is an attack on the Mueller investigation.
(Additional reporting by Daphne Psaledakis in Washington and Nate Raymond in Boston)
Ms. Jones is the co-founder/ editor-in-chief of PoliticusUSA and a member of the White House press pool.
Sarah hosts Politicus News and co-hosts Politicus Radio. Her analysis has been featured on several national radio, television news programs and talk shows, and print outlets including Stateside with David Shuster, as well as The Washington Post, The Atlantic Wire, CNN, MSNBC, The Week, The Hollywood Reporter, and more.
Sarah is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists.