Rep. Jim Jordan Asks, Where Is Rod Rosenstein?

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) wants to know: Where is Rod Rosenstein?

The conservative House Freedom Caucus leader said Wednesday on “The Laura Ingraham Show” that he is frustrated by indications that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein (pictured above left) will skip out on planned testimony before a pair of House committees on Thursday.

Reps. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) and Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) said in a news release that Rosenstein will not testify at the closed-door session.

“Hopefully, he’ll change his mind and he’ll be there tomorrow, so we can ask him the questions that I think the American people deserve to have answers to,” Jordan (pictured above right) said.

Gaetz called for a subpoena to compel Rosenstein’s testimony.

The number-two official at the Department of Justice (DOJ) has been under fire since The New York Times reported that he discussed secretly recording President Donald Trump in early 2017 and mulled attempts to persuade Cabinet officials to remove the president from office under the 25th Amendment.

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Rosenstein denied The Times’ story, saying he was being sarcastic, and Trump — after reports that the deputy attorney general would resign or be fired — has said he has no plans to make a change. Does Rosenstein feel like Trump’s support means he can ignore Congress?

“I don’t know, but I still know the facts are the facts,” Jordan said. “And they have yet to give us the McCabe memos that we subpoenaed.”

That is a reference to memos written by fired Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe. The Times based its story in large part on descriptions of those memos.

Jordan (pictured above right) said he is eager to delve into testimony of former FBI general counsel James A. Baker, who told congressional investigators that two senior FBI officials told him that they believed Rosenstein was serious about his 25th Amendment musings.

Jordan reeled off the long list of top FBI officials connected to the probes of 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and the Trump campaign who have been fired or demoted.

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“That’s why this is important, and that’s why Mr. Rosenstein needs to be in front of us, so we can ask him questions about all of that,” he said.

Jordan said that even if Rosenstein was just joking, as has been reported, it was inappropriate.

“You shouldn’t be joking about that in front of subordinates,” he said. “This is the guy who, in effect, is running the Justice Department. And whether it’s sarcasm or a joke or what, it should not be said.”

Jordan said he expects Trump to make changes to the Justice Department — but not during the next month.

“It’s obvious that the president wants a new attorney general, and I think that that will happen at some point, too,” he said. “But I don’t think that’s going to happen till after the election.”

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