House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) told Fox News Wednesday that it’s still possible that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein will testify in front of Congress before Democrats take control of the House in the New Year.
Lawmakers are looking to question Rosenstein over reports that he said he wanted to secretly record President Trump to “expose the chaos consuming the administration.” He also, allegedly, discussed invoking the 25th Amendment to remove the president from office.
When asked if the testimony could happen before Democrats take control, Goodlatte replied, “In my opinion yes, but we’ll have to see. We need to have a lengthy period of time where he is asked questions under oath.”
Rosenstein has denied the reports about him, and stories surfaced that he made the comments “in jest.” However, former FBI General Counsel James Baker told Congress he took Rosenstein’s comments “seriously.”
While Baker himself was not in the room with Rosenstein when he made the comments, two of his associates were: FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and FBI lawyer, Lisa Page. Both McCabe and Page allegedly took Rosenstein seriously and conveyed that to Baker.
The Washington Examiner reported, that a source close to the investigation said of Bakers’ House Interview, “The thing that struck me the most was the serious look on Baker’s face when he was describing it. He was conveying that they [McCabe and Page] took it seriously, and because they took it seriously, he took it seriously.”
Rosenstein was scheduled to speak with Congress on October 24, but House Judiciary and Oversight Committee Chairmen postponed the interview because, “the Committees are unable to ask all questions of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein within the time allotted.”
The original arrangement for Rosenstein’s interview was going to be in a classified setting, allowing only House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte, Oversight Chairman Trey Gowdy, Judiciary ranking Democrat Jerry Nadler and Oversight ranking Democrat Elijah Cummings, to ask questions.
This arrangement had Republican committee members outraged, with Ohio Republican Congressman Jim Jordan saying, “The idea that it’s just going to happen with two members from the Republican Party, just two members from the Democrat Party, in a classified setting, which means one thing — the American people will never know what’s said.”
