Press Releases

I would like to make a few points at the outset.

First, oversight of the Department of Justice and the FBI is incredibly important, especially under President Trump.   There are few tasks in our government more critical than ensuring the fair and impartial administration of justice.

Second, we live in a time when both the DOJ and the FBI are under attack by the President and the Congressional Majority.  It’s impossible to recount all of Mr. Trump’s assaults on the Department, but in just the last week, he asked why former FBI Director Comey has not gone to jail, and tweeted that Former Deputy FBI Director McCabe was “totally controlled by Comey - McCabe is Comey!! No collusion, all made up by this den of thieves and lowlifes!” and that “Much of the bad blood with Russia is caused by the Fake & Corrupt Russia Investigation, headed up by the all Democrat loyalists, or people that worked for Obama.”

This assault has been aided and abetted by the Majority in Congress. This February for the first time in our history the House Intelligence Committee released classified information, over the strenuous objection of the Department of Justice and the FBI, which had “grave concerns” and described the memo’s release as “extraordinarily reckless.”  The Memo’s release was blessed by the Speaker of the House who subsequently called for a “cleanse” of the FBI. 

Third, the Administration has made it next to impossible for the Minority to engage in meaningful oversight.   Last summer Politico reported that, “At meetings with top officials for various government departments this spring, Uttam Dhillon, a White House lawyer, told agencies not to cooperate with [oversight] requests from Democrats.”  It’s no wonder that we have received no substantive responses to the more than 60 oversight letters we have sent to the Administration. 

Instead of real oversight, we now live in a time when the Administration appears to be actively coordinating with Members of the Majority to stymie Congressional and DOJ investigations:

• It is by now well known that the phony “tip” Intelligence Chair Nunes received to substantiate Mr. Trump’s false claim that he was wiretapped by President Obama came from the Trump White House.
• President Trump has made numerous calls to Members of Congress, including Senate Intelligence Chair Burr, asking them to end their Russia investigations.
• House investigations in my own committee as well as in the Oversight and Intelligence Committees are now principally focused on investigating dubious and unsubstantiated charges involving DOJ and the FBI, initiated by Mr. Trump, Fox News, or both.
• Staunch Trump allies Rep. Mark Meadows and Jim Jordan are now threatening to impeach Deputy Attorney General  Rosenstein.
• Last night Judiciary Chairman Goodlatte informed me that he intends to issue a unilateral subpoena to Mr. Rosenstein, which could be laying the predicate for holding him in contempt or be used to justify his firing.

The results of these attacks and lack of oversight have taken their toll.  Fifteen months into the Trump Administration, we stand on the verge of a constitutional crisis.  The DOJ and FBI have become political punching bags, with career officials like Mr. Campbell demoralized and heading to the exits. Corruption and conflicts are rampant – including at the EPA, HUD, HHS, Interior and the White House itself. 

Depending on the day of the week, the President is threatening to fire the Attorney General, the Deputy Attorney General, and the Special Counsel.  The president may also be signaling that pardons are in the offing for anyone who could testify against him. He criticizes individual judges, refers to the press as “the enemy of the people,” and calls for his political opponents to be prosecuted and jailed.

Although Democrats don’t control the gavel, we have done everything in our power to force the Majority to act, or at the very least, to create accountability where they fail to Act.  Today I am issuing an Interim Report entitled, “A Record of Abuse, Corruption, and Inaction: House Judiciary Democrats’ Efforts to Document the Failings of the Trump Administration” which details the myriad actions we have taken thus far.

Among other things, we have:

• Sent 39 oversight letters to the Majority – nearly all without response; and introduced 35 oversight-related bills – also without response. 
• Sent six letters requesting Inspector General Reports and initiated 7 GAO investigations, led 15 Amicus briefs, and brought our own lawsuit (along with nearly  200 Members and Senators) to require the President to comply with the Emoluments Clause. 
• Hosted or co-hosted 11 Democratic Forums; released and assisted in 11 Minority Reports; and introduced two censure resolutions. 
• Introduced 5 Resolutions of Inquiry and invoked our rights under House Rules to attempt to bring relevant legislation to the House Floor (pursuant to two discharge petitions); markup legislation in Committee and bring the Committee into Executive Session (pursuant to House Rule XI).

Our efforts have focused on election security, enforcement of federal ethics and conflict of interest rules, breaches of the Foreign Emoluments Clause, allegations of obstruction of justice, and preserving the independence of the Department of Justice, among other matters. 

Committee Democrats have hoped to initiate action by writing letters to the Administration and House leadership, holding and participating in forums, forcing votes on resolutions of inquiry, releasing reports, and introducing legislation.  Unfortunately, nearly all the letters sent by our Members have received no response and all of our resolutions of inquiry have been rejected by the Majority.  The silence speaks to an Administration run amok and a Republican majority willing to turn a blind eye to gross misconduct.  Significantly, these oversight efforts help lay the predicate for action if Democrats retake the House majority in the fall.

Notwithstanding our best efforts in the Minority, it is clear far more needs to be done immediately.  I believe Congress needs to take several common sense actions right now to protect the integrity of the Department and help restore accountability to our government:

1. Pass the Special Counsel Independence and Integrity Act – This bipartisan legislation will be marked up next week in the Senate Judiciary Committee today and has over 100 cosponsors in the House.  It is not a cure all, but it would provide urgently needed safeguards to make sure the Special Counsel is not subject to arbitrary or unjustified firing.
2. Return to Regular Order on Oversight – We have gotten out of practice of doing oversight.  With only a few months left in the legislative session, our committee has held no oversight hearings of the criminal division, none for the antitrust division, none for the civil rights division, and none with the Secretary of Homeland Security.  It also goes without saying that any Administration needs to respond to oversight requests of both parties, whether they are in the Majority or not.
3. Committees Should Vote on Subpoenas – When I came to Congress, it was unheard of for Chairmen to issue unilateral subpoenas.  Lately it has become the rule, not the exception, preventing Members on both sides of the aisle from being able to participate in this critical oversight function.
4. Limit hypothetical assertions of Executive Privilege – In this Congress, witnesses have been widely permitted to avoid answering committee questions merely by claiming the President may someday, somehow want to assert executive privilege.  There is no effort to reach an accommodation to protect Congressional interests and no effort to force the president to actually assert the privilege or produce a privilege log.  In essence, accepting such an expansive view of executive privilege provides current and former Administration officials with a cost free “get out of jail free card.”
5. Enforce Rules Limiting Communications between the White House and DOJ – Current White House policy limits communications involving DOJ to matters involving national security or those defending Administration policies.  There have been numerous documented instances when this policy has not been followed, including when the White House Chief of Staff attempted to convince the Department not to challenge the Nunes memo.  I would suggest that White House Counsel McGhan learn to enforce his own rules or find a new line of work.

One of our Nation’s founding principles is that no person – not even the president – is above the law.  We rely on an independent law enforcement function within the Department of Justice to preserve that principle.  In my view, that principle is at grave risk today not only because of the misguided actions of the President, but because we in Congress have not acted to protect it.  For the good of our Democracy, we need to do everything in our power to protect the integrity and independence of the Department of Justice and the FBI, and we need to do so as soon as possible.