Collins urges Nadler to hold McCabe/Rosenstein hearing

"In light of these new claims by McCabe, I again urge you to schedule a hearing immediately and demand the testimony of McCabe and the Deputy Attorney General. If they refuse, we hope you take the necessary steps to compel their testimony."

  WASHINGTON – Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.), Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, today sent the following letter to Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) urging him to hold a hearing with former acting FBI Director Andy McCabe and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. The letter is available here, and the text is below. The Honorable Jerrold Nadler Chairman Committee on the Judiciary U.S. House of Representatives 2138 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Dear Chairman Nadler: Today, news broke confirming Americans’ worst fears about the highest ranking leaders in the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the FBI. In fact, we now know certain government officials plotted to investigate and undermine the newly elected president of the United States. Accordingly, we request you immediately schedule a hearing to take the testimony of former Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. Failing their acceptance of your invitation, we request you authorize subpoenas for their testimony. The American people have a right to know whether the unelected FBI and DOJ leadership substituted their judgment for the judgment of the American people regarding newly elected President Donald Trump. Based on media reporting this morning, our highest ranking law enforcement officials were hatching plots against the president in May 2017. According to CBS News, McCabe describes in an upcoming interview “extraordinary measures Justice Department officials took after [Director] Comey’s firing.” He says he was concerned about the president’s possible ties to Russia. McCabe admitted he and others at the highest levels of DOJ and FBI discussed removing President Trump from office. Shockingly, the interview confirms a series of discussions occurred in May 2017, related to the removal of the president from office. When asked by Gayle King whether anything McCabe revealed surprised Scott Pelley, the journalist conducting the interview, stated: The most illuminating and surprising thing in the interview to me were these eight days in May when all these things were happening behind the scenes that the American people didn’t really know about. There were meetings at the Justice Department in which it was discussed whether the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet could be brought together to remove the president of the United States under the 25th Amendment—these were the eight days from Comey’s firing to the point that Robert Mueller was appointed Special Counsel and the highest levels of American law enforcement were trying to figure out what to do with the president. Gayle King and Norah O’Donnell asked whether any other primary source had confirmed these discussions occurred. Pelley responded that no other source on the record confirms the 25th Amendment was contemplated. Clearly, McCabe and Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein are the two witnesses best positioned to shed light on the facts and discussions that took place in May 2017. McCabe, in describing an Oval Office meeting with the president hours after then-FBI Director Comey was fired, stated: “I was speaking to the man who had just run for the presidency and won the election for president and who might have done so with the aid of the government of Russia, our most formidable adversary on the world stage, and that was something that troubled me greatly.” He tells CBS News that the very next day, he met with “the team conducting the Russia investigations . . . asked them to go back and conduct an assessment” because he had to put the Russia case “on absolutely solid ground in an indelible fashion.” He feared the case would “vanish in the night” or he would be removed from his position. These are the thoughts of a veteran of law enforcement, a man who should understand the structure and role of the FBI and the Department of Justice. He can inform the Committee about any conspiracies being hatched with the FBI or the Department. For nearly two years, Republicans have been demanding answers on all aspects of the Russia investigation. Both public reporting and testimony provided to our Committee and the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform by multiple individuals indicate Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein inquired into the possibility of wiring himself to record President Trump and ultimately to invoke the 25th Amendment against the president. When the Deputy Attorney General proposes recording the president and contemplates using the government’s powerful surveillance authorities against President Trump—or any president, for that matter—they place legitimate national security authorities at risk of elimination or gross abuse. These questions and statements by McCabe must be investigated by Congress. Imagine if the situation were reversed and evidence showed DOJ and FBI contemplating the same actions against newly-elected President Obama, including possible surveillance of President Obama and invoking the 25th Amendment against him. All of us, Republican and Democrat alike, would have been gravely concerned if such a scenario had ever come to light. In this non-partisan frame of reference, the Members of our Committee have a responsibility to conduct oversight of the FBI and DOJ, particularly when former high-level officials make such explosive allegations. In light of these new claims by McCabe, I again urge you to schedule a hearing immediately and demand the testimony of McCabe and the Deputy Attorney General. If they refuse, we hope you take the necessary steps to compel their testimony. Thank you for your attention to this matter. We look forward to hearing from you. Sincerely, Doug Collins Ranking Member