Republican Representative Trey Gowdy ranted against Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein during a House Judiciary Committee hearing Thursday morning, imploring Rosenstein to "finish" the Trump-Russia probe "the hell up because this country is being torn apart."
The outgoing South Carolina congressman blasted Rosenstein, the FBI and Justice Department, as well as the Democrats, and did not even ask a question of the deputy attorney general or FBI Director Christopher Wray in a hearing that pertained to the Justice Department Inspector General's report on the Hillary Clinton private email server investigation.
Gowdy ticked off the number of probes into the 2016 election, as well as special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of Russia's interference while accusing Rosenstein and other top law enforcement officials of "bias" and "animus" toward Trump.
"So this is where we are. We're two years into this investigation, we're a year and a half into the presidency. We're over a year into special counsel. You have a counterintelligence investigation that's become public. You have a criminal investigation that's become political. You have more bias than I have ever seen manifest in a law enforcement officer in the 20 years I used to do it for a living. And four other DOJ employees who had manifest animus toward the person they were supposed to be neutrally and detachably investigating," Gowdy said, shouting at Rosenstein.
"Democrats are using this investigation as a presumption of guilt, which I find astonishing and in the long run, for the health of this republic, I would encourage them to go back to the presumption of innocence that we use to hold sacred," he continued. "There's a presumption of guilt, there's a desire by Democrat senators to fundraise off your investigation. More than 60 Democrats have already voted to proceed with impeachment before Bob Mueller has found a single, solitary, damn thing. More than 60 have voted to move forward with impeachment, and he hasn't presented his first finding!"
Gowdy concluded: "Whatever you got, finish it the hell up because this country is being torn apart."
Gowdy's urged Rosenstein, whom Mueller reports to on the Russia probe, to release whatever information the investigation had found in the past 13 months.
The comments echoed those of the president's proponents, who have accused the FBI of political bias in order to undermine Trump's campaign and his administration.
To date, Mueller has not filed any charges against the president but has reached plea agreements with three former members of his campaign and has charges pending against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort.
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