House of Representatives panel asks DOJ to hand over Russian probe documents

The Rules Committee of the House is preparing to introduce a resolution demanding that the Department of Justice release tons of documents related to the ongoing investigation of special advocate Robert Mueller, a measure that should be examined by the House this week.

The committee is expected to consider the proposal on Wednesday afternoon, one day after approval by the Judiciary Committee. The proposal, presented by Representative Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), requires the Department of Justice to return a wide range of documents by July 6.

History Suite below

The measure, a so-called resolution of the investigation, is inapplicable but, for the first time, would put the Republican home on the agenda demanding sensitive documents, escalating a confrontation so far relegated to a handful of powerful House committees.

The Democrats opposed the measure, calling it a partisan attempt to undermine Mueller's ongoing investigation and press the top officials of the Justice Department as Mueller's boss, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, and FBI director Christopher Wray.

Jordan, however, described his resolution as a legitimate request for documents that were denied for months.

"We are tired of the Ministry of Justice who has set the tone for us," he said. "As a separate branch of government, we have the right to obtain information."

"We want the entire US House of Representatives to support this resolution by stating that we still have the right, as a separate and equal branch of government, to obtain the information we need to fulfill our duty. monitoring".

The move is going ahead despite an earlier attempt by the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), To set it aside before his committee. Goodlatte ruled that Jordan's proposal was out of order, and then quickly left the room, with the panelists having overruled it by a majority of votes.

Jordan's proposal replaces a previous text that he had presented with the representative of the House Freedom Caucus, Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), Who made a separate series of requests for documents from the Department of Justice.

According to the wording of the proposal submitted for consideration by the Rules Committee, the House would require documents relating to FISA's highly confidential surveillance program that Republicans would have abused the FBI to monitor Carter Page, a former Trump associate. .

Page, which the FBI suspected of acting as a Russian agent, had advised the Trump campaign on foreign policy issues, but had been the subject of close scrutiny for a trip mid-campaign in Moscow, where he interacted with at least one senior official.

The resolution also requires the production of more documents relating to the use by the FBI of confidential informants to interact with members of the Trump campaign suspected of contacts with Russia.

A spokeswoman for President Paul Ryan declined to say whether the resolution would be presented to the House. Earlier Tuesday, Ryan insisted that he was expecting the Justice Department to fully comply with congressional requests for documents, but he also expressed confidence that FBI officials and Justice would cooperate.

Ryan, Goodlatte, House Chairman Trey Gowdy and Chair Devin Nunes met with Rosenstein and other Justice Department officials last week to review outstanding requests for documents. the FBI requested for the additional documents was "reasonable".

But Meadows, a prominent ally of President Donald Trump, slammed the suggestion and rejected claims of greater cooperation.

"While they have submitted additional documents, the new documents represent a small percentage of what they must," he said. "The idea that the DOJ / FBI has been coming up with Congress is wrong."