GOP Reps Meadows, Jordan & Nunes Have Discredited The House With Their Improper Conduct
FRED WERTHEIMER’S WEEKLY NOTE | APRIL 19, 2018
“Like President Trump, Meadows, Jordan, and Nunes have shown disdain for the rule of law, disdain for our law enforcement system, and disdain for our constitutional system of government.”
Key House Republicans are out to sabotage Mueller’s Russia investigation at any cost.
Representatives Mark Meadows (R-NC) and Jim Jordan (R-OH), leaders of the House Freedom Caucus, have gone so far as to threaten to impeach Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein if he did not turn over DOJ documents dealing with the investigation.
House Intelligence Committee Chair Devin Nunes (R-CA) similarly has threatened Rosenstein with impeachment.
These are thug-like tactics being carried out by irresponsible House Members acting as agents of President Trump in order to provide phony cover if Trump decides to fire Rosenstein and/or Mueller.
We have seen this movie before.
In the last Congress, Meadows and Jordan tried to impeach IRS Commissioner John Koskinen with absolutely no basis at all for their actions. The House overwhelmingly rejected this effort by a vote of 342-72.
Today, Meadows and Jordan, joined by Nunes, are again abusing their office to threaten to impeach Rosenstein and to wrongly attempt to inject themselves into an Executive Branch criminal investigation they have no business going near.
Like President Trump, Meadows, Jordan, and Nunes have shown disdain for the rule of law, disdain for our law enforcement system, and disdain for our constitutional system of government.
In the 229 years we have lived under the Constitution, the House has exercised its power to impeach only once in a case involving an Executive Branch official other than the President. That occurred in 1876.
This is because House Members throughout history have recognized that the impeachment power was not placed in the Constitution to be used for political, partisan, or ideological purposes.
Apparently nobody told Representatives Meadows, Jordan, and Nunes about this. They have discredited the House with their improper conduct, and they need to be held accountable by their House colleagues.
__________
Fred Wertheimer is the Founder and President of Democracy 21, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that works to strengthen our democracy and ensure the integrity and fairness of government decisions and elections.
