Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein testifies on Capitol Hill on June 27. (File Photo/C-SPAN)

(Update: No impeachment vote before August recess, which begins at day's end.)

(CNSNews.com) - "I just filed a resolution with @Jim_Jordan and several colleagues to impeach Rod Rosenstein," Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) tweeted Wednesday evening. "The DOJ has continued to hide information from Congress and repeatedly obstructed oversight--even defying multiple Congressional subpoenas. We have had enough," he added.

In an earlier tweet on Wednesday, Meadows complained that over the last 10 months, the Justice Department has withheld documents from Congress, hidden text messages, ignored deadlines, engaged in "potential FISA abuse," and defied congressional subpoenas. "People need to be held accountable," Meadows said.

Both Meadows and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) spoke about the move with Fox News's Laura Ingraham Wednesday night:

“So, we're tired of the Justice Department giving us the finger and not giving us the information we are entitled to do, to do our constitutional duty," Jordan said. "More importantly, the American people are sick of it. That's why we filed the resolution."

"Well, really, for nine months, we've asked for documents," Meadows said. "And that's all we want, are the documents. And what we've found is not only have subpoenas been ignored, but information has been hidden. Efforts have been stonewalled. And I guess for us, it's all about transparency so the American people can judge for themselves. And so they may be able to ignore Congress, but they can't ignore the American people."

Meadows said the move to impeach Rosenstein is "a first step," and "we hope it doesn't have to come to that."

He said the move to impeach does not require consent from House Speaker Paul Ryan, who is unlikely to go along with the effort:

"So what we put in today was non-privileged," Meadows said. "It goes in and gets referred to the Judiciary Committee. But starting tomorrow (Thursday), we can bring it up as a privileged motion," which would require a vote on the House floor within two days.

"And that's something that any member of Congress, Jim or I, can do," Meadows said. "And quite frankly, it's either we hold him in contempt or we get the documents or we impeach him. And -- and the only thing that we have control over is the ability to bring impeachment straight to the floor."

Jordan said Republican voters like what the Freedom Caucus is doing, even if many members of Congress do not like it.



"We care about doing the right thing," Jordan said. "It might have been 120 years since someone's been impeached, but when was the last time you ever saw the FBI take a disproven document with no credibility, no validity, no corroboration -- take it to a secret court -- not tell the court who paid for it; not tell the court that the guy who wrote it had been leaking information to the press...and not just once -- four stinking times.



“And the last (FISA warrant), Rod Rosenstein signed. So if that's not enough to force...contempt or impeachment, you tell me what is! Tell me what is?"

"Why do we have to dig so deep to find out information that should come free-flowing, if we're really interested in justice?" Meadows asked.

"Hopefully tonight, there's a whole lot of discussion going on," Meadows continued. "I've had conversations with the Speaker's office. We're hopeful that we get some documents that we identified today. But if not, as soon as tomorrow, we can do a privileged motion that would require a vote in two days. I think the American people are tired of talk. Just like Jim was talking about, they want action. And it's up to Rod Rosenstein," Meadows said.

Jordan said he, Meadows and Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.), all members of the conservative Freedom Caucus, have written to President Trump, asking him to declassify the information they want to see. "We sent the letter several weeks ago," Jordan said.

"But the bottom line is, we've sent numerous letters to Rod Rosenstein they haven't complied with. Two subpoenas they haven't complied with. We've caught the Department of Justice hiding information, redacting information that they should not have redacted. We know that Rod Rosenstein threatened House (intelligence committee) staffers -- threatened them, chilling impact, when they were trying to do their job, our job, of doing the constitutional oversight we are supposed to do.”

Today, Thursday, is the last day of business for House members before they begin their long August recess.

In response to Meadows and Jordan, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, tweeted: "The American people have had enough of this manufactured crisis and Republicans’ continuing efforts to undermine Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation for the benefit of @realDonaldTrump. Will @HouseGOP side with Putin or the American people, the rule of law and our democracy?"