Here come the subpoenas: A summary of recent House oversight activity
Investigations of Russian election interference
Six House Committee Chairs demand to see Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s final report by April 2.
House Democrats were not satisfied with Attorney General Barr’s four page summary of Special Counsel Mueller’s almost 400 page report. The chairs of six House committees issued a joint letter to Barr on March 25 requiring that the full report be submitted to Congress by April 2. Barr has said he will be giving the full report to the President for redactions before making it public by on April 18. He also agreed to testify before Congress as soon as May 1. The House Judiciary committee authorized a subpoena of the full, unredacted report, but the subpoena has not been issued yet.
Investigations don’t end at Mueller
Mueller is not the be-all end-all of investigations into Russian conspiracy. Three House committees requested records relating to communications between President Trump and Russia’s President Putin on February 21, then again on March 4. On March 21, the White House Counsel responded that they would not comply with the House Oversight, Intelligence, and Foreign Affairs committees’ requests, on the grounds that “foreign affairs is, constitutionally, within the exclusive control of the Executive Branch.” The committees voiced their concern the White House Counsel’s refusal to provide documents, saying they would consult on appropriate next steps.
Security Clearance Subpoenas
The House Oversight committee has subpoenaed documents on White House security clearance procedures after a White House Security Office employee spoke to House Oversight to blow the whistle on “the dysfunction she has witnessed over the past two years.” Following her confidential testimony Committee Chair Elijah Cummings released a memo providing information to the committee. They then voted to 23–14 to issue the subpoena, with one Republican Justin Amash voting in favor.
In a prior letter to the White House Cummings detailed the documents that would be subpoenaed. They include information about a list of 25 individuals granted security clearance despite recommendations from the White House Security Office to deny their applications, such as the President’s family members Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner.
Kushner is not only under scrutiny for receiving security clearance, but also for abusing it. In a letter to the White House, House Oversight detailed new information they had received regarding Kushner’s use of a private email server and Facebook’s WhatsApp to communicate with foreign leaders in an official capacity. House Intelligence interviewed Kushner on March 28.
Use of a private email server in an official capacity should sound familiar. It is the same scandal Hillary Clinton faced during her run for president in 2016.
Three Census Subpoenas
Along with their subpoena of White House security documents, House Oversight also issued three subpoenas regarding the 2020 decennial census. Oversight Chair Cummings said of the subpoenas: “The Committee is trying to determine the real reason Secretary Ross added the citizenship question, and the documents and testimony covered by these subpoenas are critical to answering that question.”
For more about the the census investigation see our oversight page.
Agencies Failure to Comply with Border Separation Subpoenas
The Departments of Justice, Homeland Security, and Health and Human Services have failed to comply with subpoenas issued by House Oversight back on February 26. House Oversight will hold a hearing on April 9 to address why the agencies have not complied and determine when they will.
Former Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen has resigned. Nielsen is accused by the same committees of having lied under oath about the federal policy causing family separation at the border.
For more information on the investigation of border separation, see our oversight page.
This article was written by GovTrack staffer Ben Hammer. For questions or comments please contact ben@govtrack.us.
