Posted on 10/18/2018 1:23:48 PM PDT by yesthatjallen
James Baker testified behind closed-doors on Thursday before two GOP-led House panel about his role as the FBI general counsel during the 2016 presidential election.
The meeting marks Baker’s second recent interview before the House Judiciary and Oversight and Government Reform committees, panels which are leading a joint investigation into FBI and Department of Justice (DOJ) decision-making during the 2016 election.
GOP lawmakers say Baker, who appeared before the panels earlier this month, told congressional investigators that he believes Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein was serious when he told other officials he was considering wearing a wiretap during an Oval Office meeting with President Trump last year following Trump’s firing of then-FBI director James Comey.
The New York Times, which published the bombshell report disclosing the wiretap discussion, also said Rosenstein raised the possibility of the 25th Amendment, talking about possibly removing Trump from office with the help of other Cabinet officials.
Rosenstein and the DOJ have fiercely disputed the story, stating that some comments were made in jest. Baker, however, told congressional investigators and a select group of GOP lawmakers that he believed Rosenstein meant them.
“It is deeply troubling that you got the former general counsel of the FBI saying in their reactions to Rod Rosenstein that there was going to be a wire worn by him with the president of the United States and that there was discussions he was having with cabinet members about invoking the 25th Amendment,” Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) also told reporters.
Despite rumors that Rosenstein’s job security was threatened, Trump recently told reporters that he has no plans to fire the top DOJ official following a private meeting between the two on Air Force One.
Although it is unclear what new information lawmakers gleaned from this second meeting with Baker, conservative House members appeared to ramp up their attacks against Rosenstein.
Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), one of the president’s strongest allies and a fierce critic of the FBI and DOJ, called on Rosenstein to immediately resign after the interview concluded.
"I think that it’s time that Rod Rosenstein steps down,” Meadows told reporters, citing reasons like “misplaced” priorities, lack of candor, and “unwillingness” to submit to congressional oversight.
“He should do so immediately and in doing that, I think it would serve the country well, it would serve this president well," he added.
House Freedom Caucus members previously said Rosenstein should either testify before Congress or resign from his post.
Baker, whom GOP lawmakers described as being cooperative, did not respond to reporters’ questions about his testimony. Baker retired earlier this year from the bureau and now works for the Brookings Institution, a D.C.-based think tank.
Gaetz, however, complained that the FBI general counsel present for the interview would not allow Baker to answer a series of questions about topics like surveillance of Trump campaign aides because it is tied to ongoing investigations. Lawmakers, however, said Rosenstein was one topic they discussed.
The joint investigation, derided by Democrats as an effort to discredit or distract from special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe, has been hotly sought by conservative members, who say there is ample evidence of bias against Trump among the top brass at the FBI and DOJ.
Baker is one of a handful of former FBI and DOJ officials who have met with the committee in recent weeks.
Nellie Ohr, Bruce Ohr’s wife who worked as a contractor for Fusion GPS during the presidential election, is slated to testify before the committee on Friday.
P.S.: The Mueller investigation is reported to be finished. So it can’t be the “ongoing” investigation referred to by the FBI lawyers in this article.
Read between the lines...
The only confirmed investigation into this whole area is Mueller’s.
And the reporter “imagined” this very phrase, that there was an ongoing investigation into the surveillance of Trump campaign aides?
I don’t think that’s hearsay, I think it’s called a leak from someone present during the hearing.
The Mueller investigation has ended. My point is that if there still is an “ongoing” investigation of the surveillance of Trump campaign aides, it can only mean an investigation of the whole FISA/dossier deception.
Who is conducting this ongoing investigation? Huber? The IG?
I know it’s very popular here to denigrate Sessions as some elf hiding in a tree. But please consider that if there is still an ongoing investigation of surveillance of Trump campaign aides, it can only be happening under the direction of Sessions.
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