GOP leaders have been silent on the calls from key House conservatives to censure or impeach Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein — a move that would fire up the GOP base, but could also turn off moderate and independent voters in the midterm elections.

In recent weeks, leading conservatives have been aggressively ramping up their threats to impeach or hold Rosenstein in contempt of Congress over a stalled request for documents — and the release of former FBI Director James Comey’s memos seems unlikely to quiet them.

“Rosenstein has a number of other issues, and that’s really getting documents to Congress that we’ve asked for,” Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Thursday. “He needs to get serious about that.”

Meadows said he doesn’t think special counsel Robert Mueller’s job is in jeopardy, but “Rod Rosenstein is a little bit more ambiguous, in terms of his future with this administration.”

Impeaching Rosenstein? Some Republicans are talking about it