[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 970 Introduced in House (IH)]
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115th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. RES. 970
Insisting that the Department of Justice fully comply with the
requests, including subpoenas, of the Permanent Select Committee on
Intelligence and the subpoena issued by the Committee on the Judiciary
relating to potential violations of the Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Act by personnel of the Department of Justice and related
matters.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 27, 2018
Mr. Meadows (for himself, Mr. Jordan, Mr. Buck, Mr. Gaetz, Mr. Johnson
of Louisiana, Mr. DeSantis, Mr. DesJarlais, Mr. Zeldin, Mr. Perry, Mr.
Gosar, Mr. Brat, Mr. Duncan of South Carolina, Mr. Harris, Mr.
Davidson, Mr. Biggs, Mr. Scalise, Mr. Jody B. Hice of Georgia, Mr.
Norman, Mr. Mooney of West Virginia, and Mr. Griffith) submitted the
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary, and in addition to the Permanent Select Committee on
Intelligence (Permanent Select), for a period to be subsequently
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Insisting that the Department of Justice fully comply with the
requests, including subpoenas, of the Permanent Select Committee on
Intelligence and the subpoena issued by the Committee on the Judiciary
relating to potential violations of the Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Act by personnel of the Department of Justice and related
matters.
Whereas ``the power of the Congress to conduct investigations is inherent in the
legislative process. That power is broad. It encompasses inquiries
concerning the administration of existing laws as well as proposed or
possibly needed statutes [and] comprehends probes into departments of
the Federal Government to expose corruption, inefficiency or waste.''
(Watkins v. United States (354 U.S. 178, 187));
Whereas a necessary corollary of Congress's oversight and investigative
authority is the power to issue and enforce subpoenas. The ``[I]ssuance
of subpoenas . . . has long been held to be a legitimate use by Congress
of its power to investigate.'' (Eastland v. U.S. Serviceman's Fund (421
U.S. 491, 504));
Whereas Chairman Devin Nunes of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
of the House of Representatives requested information on potential
abuses of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act in a March 8, 2017,
letter to the Department of Justice;
Whereas the Committee reviewed responsive documents on March 17, 2017, but
thereafter the Department of Justice refused to make the documents
available;
Whereas Chairman Nunes issued a subpoena on August 24, 2017, to include the
documents sought on March 8, 2017;
Whereas the Department of Justice came to substantially comply with the subpoena
10 months after the subpoena and more than one year from the original
request;
Whereas Chairman Nunes sought documents related to 9 current or former
Department of Justice personnel in a March 23, 2018, letter;
Whereas the Department of Justice complied with the request relating to one
individual on May 8, 2018, but has yet to fully comply with the other
requests;
Whereas Chairman Nunes sent a letter classified ``SECRET'' on April 24, 2018,
followed by a subpoena on April 30, 2018, which demanded the production
of all documents related to the issue identified in the earlier letter;
Whereas compliance with this letter and subpoena has to date been limited to
briefings and access to supporting documents, which have not been
provided to all of the Members and cleared staff of the Permanent Select
Committee on Intelligence;
Whereas the exclusion of the Members and cleared staff from access to these
briefings and supporting documents amounts to non-compliance with the
April 30 subpoena;
Whereas, on October 24, 2017, the Committees on the Judiciary and Oversight and
Government Reform opened a joint investigation into the decisions made
by the Department of Justice in 2016 and 2017 related to its handling of
the investigation of the emails of former Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton;
Whereas, on November 3, 2017, Chairman Goodlatte, Chairman Gowdy, and four
Members of Congress sent a letter to Attorney General Sessions and
Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein requesting 5 specific categories of
documents;
Whereas, on December 12, 2017, Chairman Goodlatte, Chairman Gowdy, and other
Members sent a letter emphasizing the expectation that the Department of
Justice provide all requested documents as well as a privilege log;
Whereas, on February 1, 2018, Chairman Goodlatte sent a letter requesting
documents related to potential Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act
abuses;
Whereas the Department of Justice has missed document production deadlines,
produced duplicative pages of information, and redacted pages to the
point where they contain no probative information;
Whereas the Committee on the Judiciary issued a subpoena to Deputy Attorney
General Rosenstein on March 22, 2018, which compelled him to produce,
among other things--
(1) all documents and communications referring or relating to internal
Department of Justice or Federal Bureau of Investigation management
requests to review, scrub, report on, or analyze any reporting of Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Act collection involving, or coverage mentioning,
the Trump campaign or the Trump administration;
(2) all documents and communications referring or relating to defensive
briefings provided by the Department of Justice or the Federal Bureau of
Investigation to the 2016 presidential campaigns of Hillary Clinton or
President Trump; and
(3) all documents and communications referring or relating to proposed,
recommended, or actual Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act coverage on
the Clinton Foundation or persons associated or in communication with the
Clinton Foundation; and
Whereas the Department of Justice has failed to comply with the March 22
subpoena by failing to substantially comply with the demand for the
production of all of these categories of documents: Now, therefore, be
it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives insists that, by not
later than July 6, 2018, the Department of Justice fully comply with
the requests, including subpoenas, of the Permanent Select Committee on
Intelligence and the subpoena issued by the Committee on the Judiciary
relating to potential violations of the Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Act by personnel of the Department of Justice and related
matters.
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