A Judiciary Committee of the House Gives Power of Assignment of the President to Whitaker

The House Judiciary Committee authorized Thursday its chairman, Representative Jerry Nadler, to issue a subpoena to compel acting attorney Matthew Whitaker to answer their questions at a very public hearing. expected on Friday.

Nadler now has a subpoena. his back pocket if Whitaker does not show up at the hearing or claims the executive's privilege to refuse to answer certain questions about his conversations with President Donald Trump. A contentious committee meeting ended with a vote among the political parties which passed a resolution formally authorizing the president to issue a subpoena.

The Story Continues (19659012) "If Mr. Whitaker appears in the audience room, as expected, Nadler (DN.Y.) said:

Republicans have stated that this This approach amounted to a useless "political theater" with the intention of "annoying" Whitaker. and Trump, the addition of a subpoena should only be a last resort for compelling testimony.

But Nadler argued that it was necessary for the committee to authorize it to issue one in advance given the recent "troubling events", including former Attorney General Jeff sessions. refusal to answer certain questions about the possibility that Trump invokes the privilege of the executive in the future.

"When we ask them questions, they have to provide us with answers or provide us with a clearly articulated id and reason to withhold certain information," said Nadler. "Without the threat of a subpoena, I think it may be difficult to compel Mr. Whitaker to meet this standard. "

The President sent a letter to Whitaker last week in which he was setting a date until Wednesday, for the Acting Attorney General to tell the committee if the President intends to claim the privilege of the executive. "Whitaker had not responded to the letter on Thursday morning, nor did that a spokeswoman for the Department of Justice has responded to a request for comment on Whitaker's plans on Friday. "Because you have not provided any notice to the Committee regarding the privilege of the senior management … I think I understand that you will bring complete answers to these questions when they will be asked you at this Friday's hearing, "wrote the president.

Nadler disputed with Republican panel members, who stated that it was not necessary to debate the issue of a subpoena when appearing in court. witness did not indicate that he would not participate or answer certain questions. 19659010] "A subpoena should indicate that all other opportunities to acquire the information or testimonies in question have been exhausted," said Georgia's Doug Collins, Republican at the highest level in the Judiciary Committee. . "These tracks are not exhausted here. A subpoena should not be used as a supplement when the committee is simply afraid that the witness will not answer the questions as it chooses.

The Republicans proposed an amendment to add the name of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to the subpoena, but efforts were defeated at a party vote.

Throughout the Trump presidency, senior administration officials refused to publicly discuss their conversations with the president, often frustrating Democratic lawmakers.

Last month, Nadler sent Whitaker a list of questions about his oversight of the investigation of special advocate Robert Mueller, including his interactions with the president about the l & # 3939; investigation.

Darren Samuelsohn contributed to the reports.