Chuck Ross on 6/17/2018
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes said Sunday that “there will be hell to pay” — including impeachment for top Justice Department officials — if the agency fails this week to give Congress documents about an FBI informant used to spy on the Trump campaign.
“We can’t force the resignation, but we can hold in contempt, we can pass resolutions, we can impeach. I think we’re getting close to there,” Nunes said of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in an interview with Maria Bartiromo on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.”
Nunes has battled Rosenstein for months over other documents related to the Russia investigation. The Justice Department and FBI stalled for months to provide information about the Steele dossier as well as about a secret surveillance warrant taken out against former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.
The most recent standoff concerns Nunes’ request for documents related to a longtime FBI and CIA source who the bureau tasked to meet with three Trump campaign advisers, including Page.
Nunes and other members of the so-called Gang of Eight met with Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray on Thursday to discuss Intelligence Committee’s requests for documents about the informant, who is reported to be former University of Cambridge professor Stefan Halper. (RELATED: A London Meeting Before The Election Aroused George Papadopoulos’ Suspicions)
Halper met with at least three Trump campaign advisers prior to the 2016 election. He met Page for months after Trump was elected.
The DOJ and FBI have resisted efforts to provide documents about the informant, saying that revealing the information could risk the safety of the informant and disrupt ongoing intelligence operations.
Nunes said that the DOJ and FBI committed last week to providing the documents by Friday. But if any of the records are withheld, the California Republican said that he will “begin to take action against the Justice Department and FBI.” (RELATED: Devin Nunes Says Trump Campaign Might Have Been Set Up)
“If documents do not begin to be turned over tomorrow, and a clear way and path forward for everything else is not clear…there’s going to be hell to pay by Wednesday morning,”
“I can tell you it’s not going to be pretty,” said Nunes.
“Absolutely,” Nunes said when asked by Bartiromo if he is willing to move to impeachment of Rosenstein.”
“I’ve been there for a while now.”
