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Today, House Judiciary Committee Democrats, led by Ranking Member Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), held a press conference to address President Trump’s outrageous “demands” on the Department of Justice as part of his continued attacks against the DOJ and the FBI, and to release a new letter to the President regarding his reluctance to sit with Special Counsel Mueller for an interview.
Below are Ranking Member Nadler's remarks, as prepared for delivery:
"Thank you all for coming. And thank you to the Democratic members of the House Judiciary Committee for joining me here today.
"Our nation’s democratic norms mean little to President Trump. He has attacked the independence and integrity of the Department of Justice since before taking office. He has shown contempt for due process and little regard for the rule of law. He is obsessed with the Special Counsel’s investigation to the point of distraction.
"But this week, President Trump crossed a new line: in a tweet, he “demanded” that the Department of Justice investigate whether the FBI “infiltrated or surveilled” his campaign. This is not normal. This is unacceptable. And it is important for the American people to know why.
"The President of the United States must not make decisions about individual law enforcement investigations. That job belongs to the Department of Justice – which may only open a criminal investigation if the investigation is properly predicated on the evidence.
"President Trump is engaging in a propaganda campaign of disinformation—branding it “spygate” to generate headlines and stir public emotions—in order to fundamentally undermine our democratic institutions. He is deliberately turning the rule of law upside-down to suit his own interests, which can only erode the public trust in our justice system.
"Moreover, the President may not interfere in a criminal investigation of which he is a subject. It should surprise no one that President Trump has made this latest demand to serve his own interests. He has no evidence whatsoever that an informant infiltrated Trump Tower or his campaign for any purpose, let alone an improper purpose, but he is willing to take the unprecedented step of “demanding” a criminal investigation in an ill-conceived attempt to protect himself from federal investigators by distracting attention and engaging in continued attacks against the Department of Justice and the FBI.
"Perhaps worst of all, as he works to advance this latest conspiracy theory, President Trump has helped to expose a confidential source at the center of the controversy.
"Ladies and gentlemen, a deliberate decision to expose the identity of a confidential source is reckless, stupid, and dangerous. Moreover, the decision to out this operative may be a crime. Later today, I will ask the Department of Justice to investigate the source of this disclosure—which never should have happened—and to hold the perpetrators accountable.
"Finally, if you—like me—are tired of the President and his legal team complaining about the reach and length of the Special Counsel’s investigation, I will direct you to a letter that my colleagues and I have just transmitted to President Trump.
"In this letter, we advise the President to stop stalling, stop blaming the investigation for his political troubles, stop posturing in the media with his endless parade of legal advisors, and submit to an interview with Special Counsel Mueller.
"The interview is all but inevitable. Robert Mueller is well within his rights to compel the President’s testimony through a subpoena. And it is hard to imagine that the Special Counsel’s investigation will be complete without the President’s testimony.
"So, if the President wants the investigation to be completed as rapidly as possible, he will agree to sit for an interview without forcing the Special Counsel to spend months enforcing a subpoena.
"Yesterday, the President’s new lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, told the Washington Post that he was concerned about the interview because “the truth is relative.” Shame on him. The truth is not relative. The facts are not relative. Special Counsel Mueller is charged with following the facts wherever they lead. When his work is complete, the House Judiciary Committee will be tasked with the same.
"Our expectation is that the President will agree to the interview. That after concluding his work the Special Counsel will submit his findings in a report. And that the report will be made public so that the American people can see the facts for ourselves."
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