Watch: Rosenstein clashes with GOP lawmakers amid fallout over election probes

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein clashed with Republican lawmakers in a contentious hearing on Thursday as he challenged allegations that the Justice Department is hiding information from Congress.

House Republicans accuse Rosenstein — a Donald Trump appointee who oversees special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia's attack on the 2016 election — of denying congressional requests for documents related to the Russia probe and the Hillary Clinton email investigation.

The GOP accusations are part of a long-running battle in Congress to try to shape public perceptions of the Mueller investigation, which has yielded indictments of 20 people and secured five guilty pleas so far.

"Why are you keeping information from Congress?" Rep. Jim Jordan demanded of Rosenstein.

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The deputy attorney general rejected those allegations, and the two men launched into a tense exchange in which Rosenstein, his voice rising, told the Ohio congressman how vigorously he objected to the personal attacks about purported Justice Department stonewalling.

Shortly after that back-and-forth, the committee took a break for a floor vote on a resolution insisting the Justice Department fully comply with committee document requests.

That measure, which passed along party lines, is non-binding, but it is still viewed as an attempt to ratchet up the pressure on Rosenstein.

Critics: A scheme to undercut Mueller

Democrats argue the president's congressional allies are making overly burdensome requests in order to give the president a pretext for firing Rosenstein. Critics also worry that Republicans may share information they learn about the investigation with Trump and his legal team.

Earlier, Florida Republican Rep. Ron DeSantis said he thought Rosenstein, because he'd supported continuing surveillance against a onetime Trump campaign aide and for other reasons, should recuse himself from the Russia case.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions already has. He cited his work on behalf of the Trump campaign in 2016 while he was in the Senate.

Rosenstein, with an ironic grin, said that if he felt it would be appropriate to take himself off the Russia case he would do so, but that he felt it is proper that he continue with the work and that he bears the onus to do so.

The testimony from Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray before the House Judiciary Committee followed the now familiar script for such proceedings.

GOP lawmakers pushed their narrative that the Justice Department and FBI were packed with politically biased officials intent on hamstringing the Trump campaign. Democrats said Republicans are trying to undermine the Russia investigation and protect the president.

Texas Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee said on Thursday she thought the Judiciary Committee's work had devolved into a "monster ball," in which members were simply "looking for monsters" within the Justice Department and the FBI.

Rosenstein and Wray both already were under considerable pressure from House Republicans to turn over documents related to the Russia investigation. Intelligence committee Chair Devin Nunes, R-Calif., has threatened to hold them in contempt of Congress unless they provide more materials.

Rearguard action

The Justice Department generally does not hand over documents relating to an ongoing investigation, particularly one as sensitive as the Russia probe. But it has been giving ground.

Wray said Thursday that the bureau has made an enormous effort to address the congressional demands. He said nearly 900,000 pages have been handed over so far, and the FBI has more than 100 employees working day and night as well as weekends "to collect, review and process thousands of additional pages."

"We are committed to getting through the rest of it," he said.

In the most recent case, the department says it has already bent to congressional demands and provided hundreds of thousands of documents, but lawmakers say officials have redacted or refused to provide certain requested materials.

Most recently, Nunes demanded to know whether the FBI used informants to target members of the Trump campaign.

The Justice Department says it has already answered that question.

The FBI assigned a confidential informant to make contact with a small number of Trump campaign aides in 2016 after they began to receive overtures from Russian agents. Members of Congress said they've had no indication about anything improper, while former FBI officials have said using such informants is a standard investigative move.

The FBI warned it had "grave concerns" about a memo Nunes released earlier this year based in part on classified information.

Republicans brush aside such concerns, saying they are conducting the legitimate oversight which is their duty under the Constitution.

Republicans also point to the recent report from the Justice Department's inspector general about the FBI's handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation. In the course of that inquiry, the IG uncovered text messages between senior FBI agent Peter Strzok and FBI lawyer Lisa Page that were disparaging of Trump.

Strzok and Page worked on the Clinton email and Russia investigations. Strzok was removed by Mueller from the Russia probe, while Page left after her temporary assignment there ended.

Republicans say the texts show political bias at the FBI that taints both investigations. Democrats say Republicans are trying to sow doubts about the Mueller investigation and any conclusions it may reach.

Strzok appeared for hours on Wednesday behind closed doors with the House Judiciary Committee and the panel's leaders may convene another session with him down the line that takes place in public.