NADLER STATEMENT ON DOJ IG INVESTIGATION OF "FISA ABUSE"

March 28, 2018

Today, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) released the following statement after the Department of Justice Inspector General announced he is opening an investigation into potential Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) abuses by the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI):

"It is a shame that the Inspector General has to devote resources to investigate a conspiracy theory as fact-free, openly political, and thoroughly debunked as the President's so-called 'FISA abuse.' Any objective review of these claims should tell us what we already know-that the FBI was right, that there was sufficient evidence to continue investigating certain Trump campaign officials for their connections to the Russian government, and that the Republicans are desperate to distract from that investigation.

Background:

On January 23, 2018, after reviewing the "Nunes memo," a set of misleading talking points drafted by the Republican staff of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in an attempt to discredit the FBI and undermine Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, Ranking Member Jerrold Nadler immediately wrote to Chairman Bob Goodlatte to express his concerns.

On February 4, 2018, Ranking Member Nadler sent a legal analysis of the "Nunes memo" to his Democratic colleagues.

The House Committee on the Judiciary has not yet held a single hearing to address overt attacks on the leadership of the Department of Justice and the Special Counsel. Judiciary Republicans have also taken no action to address the ongoing threat Russia poses to the U.S. federal election system-despite pledging to do so when adopting the Committee's oversight plan.

On February 8, 2018, all Democratic Members of the House Judiciary Committee sent a letter to Chairman Goodlatte calling for immediate hearings to examine U.S. election infrastructure, foreign threats posed, and what steps the Department of Justice, Homeland Security, and the State Department may or may not be taking to ensure the integrity of future state and federal elections.

Subcommittees

Constitution and Civil Justice (115th Congress)

The Constitution and Limited Government (115th Congress)

Crime and Federal Government Surveillance (115th Congress)

Constitution and Civil Justice (115th Congress)

Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security (116th Congress)

Issues: Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Constitution Crime Government Oversight National Security