National Security
The Judiciary Committee oversees many of the laws, agencies, and programs that underpin our national security infrastructure. Whether debating the constitutional limits of executive power, examining the application of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or evaluating counterterrorism efforts at the Department of Justice and the FBI, the Committee is working to ensure that the government keeps Americans safe-and does so in a way that respects our civil liberties and reflects our values.
More on National Security
Rep. John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI), Ranking Member of the House Committee on the Judiciary, issued the following statement in response to Trump abruptly firing FBI Director James Comey:
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and Ranking Member John Conyers (D-Mich.) today requested that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence provide a public estimate of the number of communications involving U.S. persons incidentally swept up under FISA Section 702.
Yesterday, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions indicated that the Department of Justice will pursue criminal charges to curb the number of alleged leaks of classified information from within the government. The statement raises questions about the scope of the Attorney General's recusal from matters related to the presidential campaigns, and whether that recusal continues to apply to investigation of the many contacts between the Trump campaign and Putin's Russia.
Earlier today, three senior Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee sent a letter to the leaders of the U.S. intelligence community, arguing that "unauthorized and felonious disclosures . . . are increasingly casting a pall over not only our country's intelligence apparatus but also the American people's trust in the efficacy and integrity of the intelligence community."
House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) released the following statement in response:
In the aftermath of misleading information put forth by Attorney General Jeff Sessions concerning his interaction with Russian operatives, and following a steady stream of troubling revelations related to possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia during last year's presidential election, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries and House Democrats have introduced a resolution of inquiry that could compel the Administration to publicly disclose information to Congress and the American people.