Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has "zero credibility" when it comes to investigating leaks from the White House following his comments about former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her testimony before Congress last year, former Rep. Jason Chaffetz said Monday.
"When I asked him if he looked at Hillary Clinton whether she told the truth under oath, he said he needed a request from Congress," the former Utah lawmaker, now a Fox News commentator, said on the "America's Newsroom" program.
He said that both he, as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and the Judiciary Committee asked about Clinton, their question was never answered.
"Let's start with Hillary Clinton and whether she lied under oath, and go back to the State Department, who had an open investigation," said Chaffetz, noting it was reopened on July 7, 2016.
"Nearly 300 people who are dealing in classified information in a nonsecure setting, why didn't they ever close that investigation?" said Chaffetz. "They need to answer those questions. Start with that. They come with zero credibility on this issue."
On Sunday, Rosenstein said the Department of Justice will go after anyone who breaks the law, including White House officials or members of Congress, during its investigation into a series of damaging leaks to the media.
Chaffetz said that there comes a point where questions on investigations must be answered, not just leaked out in dribbles to the press.
"Until you have people in handcuffs over this classified information, it's against the law to just leak it out and give it to whoever you want," said Chaffetz. "You can't do that."
Chaffetz said he has no doubt that there are holdovers in the Justice Department from the Obama administration who may not be excited about further investigations into Clinton.
"Now that you have the deputy attorney general coming to the microphone saying we'll hold everybody accountable no matter who they are, — prove it," he said. "People are documented by the inspector general's office, not members of Congress who pointed these people out specifically and they should be held accountable by the Department of Justice."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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