Republicans in House seek new investigative documents in Russia, reigniting battle with DOJ

WASHINGTON – The Judiciary Committee of the House officially asked Thursday at the Ministry of Justice to hand over two sets of classified documents relating to its counterintelligence investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 elections, setting up a new confrontation between GOP lawmakers Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.

The Chair of the Judiciary Committee of the House, Bob Goodblatte, R-Va., Had publicly announced that he intended to quote briefs from former FBI Acting Director Andrew McCabe, who would detail the offer of Rosenstein secretly keeping conversations with President Donald Trump. This application was officially released on Thursday.

But the summons also included two other applications that had previously met with strong resistance from the Justice Department. One is the request for an internal document in support of the government's request for a covert surveillance mandate against former Trump Foreign Policy Advisor Carter Page. Known as the "Woods File," the document is produced by the Department of Justice's National Security Division and verifies all claims that government lawyers plan to make to the foreign intelligence court.

The other request concerns very sensitive documents previously provided only to the Gang of Eight – the main congressional leaders and House and Senate intelligence committee leaders – related to confidential human sources that are part of the 39, counterintelligence investigation. between Russia and the leaders of the Trump campaign.

"The review of these documents is critical to our investigation," Goodlatte said in a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions. "Given the persistent delays and / or the Department's refusal to produce these documents, I have no choice but to issue the attached subpoena."

The last two requests had previously been made by the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, the representative Devin Nunes, R-Calif. After initial resistance by the Justice Department to urge senior officials to extricate Congress or even indict them, the Woods case was made available to Intelligence Committee staff for review by the Department of Justice.

DOJ officials also met with the Gang of Eight on Capitol Hill in May and again in June to discuss issues related to the use of human sources in his investigation.

The new request from the Judiciary Committee would significantly increase the number of legislators with access to classified documents related to the investigation and currently overseen by former FBI director Robert Mueller.

The Judiciary Committee and the House Oversight Committee, which has more than 80 members, have investigated some aspects of the Department of Justice's handling of the Russian investigation. And members include some of Trump's most fervent allies, including representatives Mark Meadows and Jim Jordan, who called for the removal of Rosenstein.

California representative, Republican Adam Schiff, issued a statement sharply criticizing Republicans as "the facilitators of the president," who could "selectively disclose and distort information" to undermine Mueller's investigation.

"This information contains very sensitive information about the police and national security. Indiscriminate disclosure could jeopardize important sources and methods, frightening cooperation from other sources that help US law enforcement and intelligence agencies investigate international partners in the United States, "he said.

Trump was scheduled to meet Rosenstein on Thursday to discuss his employment status after the New York Times reported last week that Rosenstein, shortly after the dismissal of FBI director James Comey, had suggested carrying a thread in meetings with President. invoking the 25th Amendment. The White House said the meeting would be held next week.