IV 115TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. RES. 1028 Impeaching Rod Rosenstein, the Deputy Attorney General of the United States, for high crimes and misdemeanors. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 25, 2018 Mr. MEADOWS (for himself, Mr. JORDAN, Mr. JODY B. HICE of Georgia, Mr. DUNCAN of South Carolina, Mr. BIGGS, Mr. GOHMERT, Mr. GAETZ, Mr. DESJARLAIS, Mr. GOSAR, Mr. POSEY, and Mr. PERRY) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary RESOLUTION Impeaching Rod Rosenstein, the Deputy Attorney General of the United States, for high crimes and misdemeanors. 1 Resolved, That Rod Rosenstein, Deputy Attorney 2 General of the United States, is impeached for high crimes 3 and misdemeanors, and that the following articles of im4 peachment be exhibited to the Senate: 5 Articles of impeachment exhibited by the House of 6 Representatives of the United States of America in the dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS 7 name of itself and all of the people of the United States 8 of America, against Rod Rosenstein, Deputy Attorney 9 General of the United States, in maintenance and support VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Jul 26, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR1028.IH HR1028 2 1 of its impeachment against him for high crimes and mis2 demeanors. 3 4 ARTICLE I On March 2, 2017, Attorney General Jeff Sessions 5 recused himself from any matter potentially relating to the 6 2016 campaign. Upon the Attorney General’s recusal, 7 Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein assumed re8 sponsibility to oversee the Department’s response to the 9 congressional investigations of the Department of Justice 10 and FBI. 11 On July 27, 2017, House Judiciary Chairman Bob 12 Goodlatte and 19 Members of Congress requested a sec13 ond Special Counsel to conduct a comprehensive investiga14 tion into matters related to the 2016 Presidential cam15 paign that appear to be outside the scope of Special Coun16 sel Mueller’s investigation. 17 On September 26, 2017, House Judiciary Chairman 18 Bob Goodlatte and 13 Members of Congress sent a letter 19 repeating the call for a second Special Counsel. 20 On March 6, 2018, Chairman Goodlatte and Chair- 21 man Gowdy called for the appointment of a second Special 22 Counsel to investigate these matters due to the actual or dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS 23 potential conflicts of interests related to certain prosecu24 torial and investigative decisions made and not made by 25 the Department of Justice in 2016 and 2017. •HRES 1028 IH VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Jul 26, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR1028.IH HR1028 3 1 On March 29, 2018, Attorney General Sessions wrote 2 in a letter to Chairman Chuck Grassley, Chairman Bob 3 Goodlatte, and Chairman Trey Gowdy that he would not 4 appoint a second Special Counsel to investigate these mat5 ters despite the apparent and actual conflicts of interests 6 of current and former Department of Justice and FBI em7 ployees. 8 On May 22, 2018, Rep. Lee Zeldin, along with 31 9 Members of Congress, introduced H. Res. 907, a resolu10 tion expressing the sense of Congress that the Attorney 11 General should appoint a second Special Counsel. 12 On July 21, 2018, the Department of Justice re- 13 leased a heavily redacted set of documents containing the 14 Carter Page FISA warrant application and subsequent re15 newals. Upon reviewing the documents, it is evident Dep16 uty Attorney General Rosenstein signed an FBI applica17 tion to renew FISA surveillance on Carter Page. 18 As such, his conduct in authorizing the FISA surveil- 19 lance at issue in the joint congressional investigation 20 makes him a fact witness central to the ongoing investiga21 tion of potential FISA abuse. Deputy Attorney General 22 Rosenstein’s failure to recuse himself in light of this inher- dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS 23 ent conflict of interest and failure to recommend the ap24 pointment of a second Special Counsel constitute derelic25 tion of duty. •HRES 1028 IH VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Jul 26, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR1028.IH HR1028 4 1 Wherefore, Rod Rosenstein, by such conduct, war- 2 rants impeachment and trial, and removal from office. 3 4 ARTICLE II Mr. Rosenstein and the Department of Justice have 5 repeatedly failed to produce documents requested by the 6 Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on Over7 sight and Government Reform, despite the committees’ 8 constitutional duty to conduct oversight of the FBI and 9 broader Department of Justice. 10 On October 24, 2017, the Committee on Judiciary 11 and the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 12 opened a joint investigation into the decisions made by the 13 Department of Justice in 2016 and 2017 related to their 14 handling of the Secretary Clinton email investigation. 15 On November 3, 2017, Chairman Goodlatte, Chair- 16 man Gowdy, and four Members of Congress, sent a letter 17 to Attorney General Sessions and Deputy Attorney Gen18 eral Rosenstein requesting documents related to certain 19 prosecutorial and investigative decisions the Department 20 of Justice’s made during the 2016 election. 21 On December 12, 2017, Chairman Goodlatte, Chair- 22 man Gowdy, and other members sent a letter in further- dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS 23 ance of their previous document requests, urging the De24 partment to provide withheld documents, and to comply 25 with the Committees’ previous instructions to provide a 26 privilege log for documents withheld or redacted on the •HRES 1028 IH VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Jul 26, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR1028.IH HR1028 5 1 basis of a privilege. Mr. Rosenstein and the Department 2 of Justice have refused to provide a privilege log for these 3 documents, despite producing documents to Congress that 4 are so redacted they contain little probative information. 5 On February 1, 2018, Chairman Goodlatte sent a let- 6 ter requesting documents related to alleged abuses of the 7 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (‘‘FISA’’) related to 8 members of the Trump campaign. As Deputy Attorney 9 General of the United States, Mr. Rosenstein is to act on 10 behalf of the Attorney General for purposes of authorizing 11 searches and electronic surveillance under the FISA. 12 On March 22, 2018, Chairman Goodlatte issued a 13 subpoena compelling Mr. Rosenstein and the Department 14 of Justice to produce documents after the Department 15 failed to fully comply with the Committee on the Judiciary 16 and the Committee on Oversight and Government Re17 form’s document requests. In requesting documents re18 lated to alleged abuses of FISA related to members of the dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS 19 Trump campaign, the subpoena requested: 20 (1) All documents and communications with the 21 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (‘‘FISC’’) 22 referring or relating to any Foreign Intelligence Sur- 23 veillance Act (‘‘FISA’’) applications associated with 24 Carter Page or individuals on President Trump’s •HRES 1028 IH VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Jul 26, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR1028.IH HR1028 6 1 2016 Presidential campaign or part of the Trump 2 administration. 3 (2) All documents and communications refer- 4 ring or relating to FISC hearings and deliberations, 5 including any court transcripts, related to any FISA 6 applications associated with Carter Page or the 7 Trump campaign or Trump administration. 8 (3) All documents and communications refer- 9 ring or relating to defensive briefings provided by 10 the Department of Justice or FBI to the 2016 Pres- 11 idential campaigns of Hillary Clinton or President 12 Trump. 13 (4) All documents and communications refer- 14 ring or relating to proposed, recommended, or actual 15 FISA coverage on the Clinton Foundation or per- 16 sons associated or in communication with the Clin- 17 ton Foundation. 18 The Department of Justice has violated this congressional 19 subpoena by failing to fully produce each of these cat20 egories of documents. 21 Following the issuance of the March 22 subpoena, 22 Mr. Rosenstein and the Department of Justice have re- dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS 23 fused to comply with a Memorandum-of-Understanding 24 negotiated with the Committee on the Judiciary and the •HRES 1028 IH VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Jul 26, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR1028.IH HR1028 7 1 Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to expe2 dite the production of documents. 3 Whereas the Department of Justice has missed docu- 4 ment production deadlines, produced duplicative pages of 5 information, and has redacted pages to the point where 6 they contain little probative information. 7 Whereas additional documents provided to Members 8 of Congress in July 2018 by whistleblowers demonstrate 9 under Mr. Rosenstein’s leadership the Department of Jus10 tice and FBI have knowingly and intentionally withheld 11 documents within the scope of the joint congressional in12 vestigation to avoid oversight. 13 On June 27, 2018, witness testimony provided in a 14 transcribed interview with members of the Committee on 15 the Judiciary and the Committee on Oversight and Gov16 ernment Reform revealed the Department of Justice and 17 Special Counsel Mueller had instructed material fact wit18 nesses to refuse to provide testimony within the jurisdic19 tion of the committees’ joint investigation; even though 20 much of this information is not law enforcement sensitive 21 and available through open source media reporting. 22 On July 13, 2018, witness testimony provided in a dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS 23 transcribed interview with members of the Committee on 24 the Judiciary and the Committee on Oversight and Gov25 ernment Reform revealed the Department of Justice had •HRES 1028 IH VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Jul 26, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR1028.IH HR1028 8 1 failed to notify material fact witnesses of repeated con2 gressional requests for their testimony. 3 Wherefore, Rod Rosenstein, by such conduct, war- 4 rants impeachment and trial, and removal from office. 5 6 ARTICLE III Upon in camera review of documents at the Depart- 7 ment of Justice, it was revealed the Department, under 8 the supervision of Mr. Rosenstein, attempted to conceal 9 certain facts as documents provided to Congress were 10 heavily and unnecessarily redacted. Most of the redacted 11 documents containing material investigative information 12 did not contain law-enforcement-sensitive information, the 13 Department’s stated basis for redactions. 14 The Department of Justice, under the supervision of 15 Mr. Rosenstein, unnecessarily redacted the price of FBI 16 Deputy Director Andrew McCabe’s $70,000 conference 17 table because it was potentially embarrassing information. 18 The Department of Justice, under the supervision of 19 Mr. Rosenstein, redacted FBI Agent Peter Strzok’s per20 sonal relationship with FISC Judge Rudolph Contreras. 21 The Department of Justice, under the supervision of 22 Mr. Rosenstein, redacted the names of high-ranking dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS 23 Obama administration officials, such as former White 24 House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough. •HRES 1028 IH VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Jul 26, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR1028.IH HR1028 9 1 The Department of Justice, under the supervision of 2 Mr. Rosenstein, redacted the names of high-ranking FBI 3 officials, such as former Deputy Director Andrew McCabe. 4 The Department of Justice acknowledged the unnec- 5 essary redactions and agreed that some information 6 should not have been redacted in an April 16, 2018, letter 7 to Representatives Meadows and Jordan. 8 Wherefore, Rod Rosenstein, by such conduct, war- 9 rants impeachment and trial, and removal from office. 10 11 ARTICLE IV On May 17, 2017, Deputy Attorney General Rosen- 12 stein appointed Robert S. Mueller III as the Special Coun13 sel to investigate possible ties between the Trump cam14 paign and Russia. In May 2017, Mr. Rosenstein authored 15 the initial memo articulating the scope of the Special 16 Counsel investigation’s jurisdiction. 17 On August 2, 2017, Mr. Rosenstein drafted a memo 18 articulating the scope of the Special Counsel investigation 19 which began by noting ‘‘the following allegations were 20 within the scope of the investigation at the time of your 21 appointment and are within the scope of the order’’, with 22 nearly everything following the mention of those initial al- dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS 23 legations redacted. 24 Mr. Rosenstein’s memo is a classified document and 25 almost completely redacted, raising concerns the appoint26 ment of Robert S. Mueller III as Special Counsel began •HRES 1028 IH VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Jul 26, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR1028.IH HR1028 10 1 outside the scope of regulations for Special Counsel inves2 tigations by originating on a counterintelligence, rather 3 than criminal, basis. 4 Mr. Rosenstein’s memo also raises concerns given 5 Special Counsel investigations are not warranted by the 6 existence of mere allegations, and require there be facts 7 evident warranting a ‘‘criminal investigation of a person 8 or matter’’. 9 Mr. Rosenstein’s memo raises fundamental concerns 10 related to the Government’s basis for alleging ‘‘collusion’’ 11 between the Trump campaign and Russia, and whether 12 these allegations resulted in potential crimes warranting 13 investigation. 14 Despite the significant public interest in the matter 15 and the constitutional authority of Congress to conduct 16 oversight of the Department of Justice, Mr. Rosenstein 17 has repeatedly failed to provide a less-redacted version of 18 this scope memo, even in a classified setting. 19 Wherefore, Rod Rosenstein, by such conduct, war- 20 rants impeachment and trial, and removal from office. 21 22 ARTICLE V In his capacity as Deputy Attorney General of the dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS 23 United States, Mr. Rosenstein oversaw the potentially im24 proper authorization of FISA searches and electronic sur25 veillance of members of the Trump campaign. •HRES 1028 IH VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Jul 26, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR1028.IH HR1028 11 1 As evidenced by the July 21, 2018, release of the 2 Carter Page FISA application, under Mr. Rosenstein’s su3 pervision, the ‘‘dossier’’ compiled by Christopher Steele on 4 behalf of the Democratic National Committee and the Hil5 lary Clinton campaign formed a material part of the FISA 6 application. 7 Under Mr. Rosenstein’s supervision, the Department 8 of Justice and FBI intentionally obfuscated the fact the 9 dossier was originally a political opposition research docu10 ment before the FISC. 11 Under Mr. Rosenstein’s supervision, Christopher 12 Steele’s political opposition research was neither vetted be13 fore it was used in October 2016 nor fully revealed to the 14 FISC, given Director Comey’s June 2017 testimony the 15 dossier was ‘‘salacious and unverified’’. 16 As Deputy Attorney General, Mr. Rosenstein has 17 failed in his responsibility for the proper authorization of 18 searches under FISA, and his conduct related to the sur19 veillance of American citizens working on the Trump cam20 paign has permanently undermined both public and con21 gressional confidence in significant counterintelligence 22 program processes. dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS 23 Under Mr. Rosenstein’s supervision, the public’s con- 24 fidence in the integrity of the FISA process depends on 25 the court’s ability to hold the Government to the highest•HRES 1028 IH VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Jul 26, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR1028.IH HR1028 12 1 standard-particularly as it relates to surveillance of Amer2 ican citizens. 3 Given Mr. Rosenstein’s oversight of the FISA process 4 is a central issue in the current congressional investigation 5 into certain decisions made and not made by the Depart6 ment of Justice and FBI in 2016 and 2017, he has actual 7 and potential conflicts of interest requiring the appoint8 ment of a second Special Counsel. 9 Wherefore, Rod Rosenstein, by such conduct, war- 10 rants impeachment and trial, and removal from office. dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS Æ •HRES 1028 IH VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Jul 26, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\HR1028.IH HR1028