Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker has a lot of explaining to do about the Trump administration’s handling of the Russia investigation.At least, that’s how House Democrats see it.The new chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Jerrold Nadler of New York, fired off a strongly-worded letter to Whitaker on Wednesday demanding Whitaker testify on Capitol Hill before President Trump’s next State of the Union address, scheduled for Jan. 29.The letter went out shortly after reports surfaced that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, the Justice Department official widely seen as protecting special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, is planning to step down.Whitaker had offered to testify before Congress on Feb. 12 or 13, so long as the government shutdown had been over for at least two weeks by then. Nadler wasn’t swayed by Whitaker’s timeline and said he needed to hurry up and get on with it.“I cannot accept your proposal,” Nadler wrote. “We are willing to work with you to identify a mutually identifiable date for your testimony, but we will not allow that date to slip past January 29, 2019 — the day of the president’s scheduled address to Congress, when we know you will be in Washington.”Among the topics Nadler wants Whitaker to testify about is President Trump’s acid-dipped criticisms of the Mueller’s investigation, including his bombastic “WITCH HUNT” tweets and one especially notable tweet with an image of Rosenstein (and others) behind bars.“We must discuss the impact of President’s near-daily statements attacking the integrity of the Department of Justice, the FBI, and Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation,” Nadler wrote.NBC said later Wednesday that Rosenstein would stay in his post until Mueller had finished his work.Although Whitaker publicly refused to recuse himself from overseeing the Mueller investigation, it remains unclear who's running the show. The Washington Post reported Wednesday, citing unnamed sources, that Rosenstein continues to execute day-to-day oversight, and that Whitaker has largely remained in the background.
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The Department of Justice hasn’t responded to repeated emailed questions from VICE News about oversight of the Mueller investigation.Nadler’s letter suggested he, too, would like some clarity in that regard.“The public is entitled to know why you chose to disregard the advice of career ethics officials at the Department with respect to your oversight of the Special Counsel,” he wrote. “Similarly, we are entitled to a clear explanation of the current line of responsibility for the supervision of the Special Counsel’s investigation.”Cover: Acting United States Attorney General Matt Whitaker, center, departs following a Medal of Freedom ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Friday, Nov. 16, 2018. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
