Senate Judiciary begins investigation into DOJ lawmaker subpoenas
By Rebecca Beitsch - 06/14/21 04:27 PM EDT
The Senate Judiciary kicked off its investigation into subpoenas initiated under the Trump administration, asking the Department of Justice to turn over reams of documents as well as the justification for targeting two House Democrats.
In a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland Monday, lawmakers ask DOJ to name names by listing the officials responsible for initiating subpoenas of House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.).
“These actions by former President Trump and Attorney General [Bill] Barr raise additional concerns that DOJ’s investigative decisions in this case were motivated by improper political considerations,” the committee’s Democrats wrote in the letter.
The letter also asks DOJ to “preserve all relevant materials,” noting that “several officials who reportedly oversaw these egregious overreaches remain at DOJ, including the handpicked prosecutor Attorney General Barr assigned to the case in February 2020.”
The request comes as DOJ is scrambling to contain the fallout following news that under Trump the department seized the records not only of lawmakers, but also reports from three news outlets and former White House counsel Don McGahn.
more
https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/558367-senate-judiciary-begins-investigation-into-doj-lawmaker-subpoenas
