[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 938 Reported in House (RH)]
<DOC>
House Calendar No. 164
115th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. RES. 938
[Report No. 115-813]
Of inquiry directing the Attorney General to provide certain documents
in the Attorney General's possession to the House of Representatives
relating to the ongoing congressional investigation related to certain
prosecutorial and investigatory decisions made by the Department of
Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation surrounding the 2016
election.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 13, 2018
Mr. Meadows (for himself, Mr. Jordan, Mr. Gaetz, and Mr. Perry)
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary
July 10, 2018
Reported with an amendment, referred to the House Calendar, and ordered
to be printed
[Strike out all after the resolving clause and insert the part printed
in italic]
[For text of the introduced resolution, see copy of resolution as
introduced on June 13, 2018]
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Of inquiry directing the Attorney General to provide certain documents
in the Attorney General's possession to the House of Representatives
relating to the ongoing congressional investigation related to certain
prosecutorial and investigatory decisions made by the Department of
Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation surrounding the 2016
election.
Whereas after the recusal of Attorney General Jeff Sessions on March 2, 2017,
from any matter potentially relating to the 2016 campaign, Deputy
Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has overseen the Department's response
to the congressional investigations into the Department of Justice (DOJ)
and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI);
Whereas a second Special Counsel was first requested on July 27, 2017, by House
Committee on Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte and 19 Members of
Congress;
Whereas, on September 26, 2017, Chairman Goodlatte and 13 Members of Congress
sent a letter repeating the call for a second Special Counsel;
Whereas, on March 6, 2018, Chairman Goodlatte and House Committee on Oversight
and Government Reform Chairman Trey Gowdy called for the appointment of
a second Special Counsel to investigate these matters;
Whereas, on May 22, 2018, Representative Lee Zeldin, along with 31 Members of
Congress, introduced House Resolution 907 calling for a second Special
Counsel;
Whereas Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Majority Whip Steve Scalise have
supported the appointment of a second Special Counsel;
Whereas Mr. Rosenstein and the DOJ have repeatedly failed to produce documents
requested by the Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on
Oversight and Government Reform, obstructing Congress' oversight duty;
Whereas, on October 24, 2017, the Committee on Judiciary and the Committee on
Oversight and Government Reform opened a joint investigation into the
decisions made by the DOJ in 2016 and 2017 related to their handling of
the Secretary Hillary Clinton email investigation;
Whereas, on November 3, 2017, Chairman Goodlatte, Chairman Gowdy, and four
Members of Congress sent a letter to Attorney General Sessions and
Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein requesting five specific categories
of documents;
Whereas, on December 12, 2017-, Chairman Goodlatte, Chairman Gowdy, and other
Members sent a letter emphasizing the expectation that the Department
provide all requested documents as well as a privilege log;
Whereas, on February 1, 2018, Chairman Goodlatte sent a letter requesting
documents related to potential Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act
abuses;
Whereas the DOJ has missed document production deadlines, produced duplicative
pages of information, and redacted pages to the point where they contain
no probative information;
Whereas the Committee on the Judiciary issued a subpoena to Deputy Attorney
General Rosenstein on March 22, 2018, which compelled him to produce,
among other things--
(1) all documents and communications with the Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Court (FISC) referring or relating to any Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Act (FISA) applications associated with Carter Page or
individuals on President Trump's 2016 presidential campaign or part of the
Trump administration;
(2) all documents and communications referring or relating to FISC
hearings and deliberations, including any court transcripts, related to any
FISA applications associated with Carter Page or the Trump campaign or
Trump administration;
(3) all documents and communications referring or relating to internal
DOJ or FBI management requests to review, scrub, report on, or analyze any
reporting of FISA collection involving, or coverage mentioning, the Trump
campaign or Trump administration; and
(4) all documents and communications referring or relating to defensive
briefings provided by the bOJ or FBI to the 2016 presidential campaigns of
Hillary Clinton or President Trump;
Whereas the DOJ has violated this congressional subpoena by failing to produce
each of these categories of documents;
Whereas Mr. Rosenstein and the DOJ have refused to provide an alternative
timeline for providing these categories of documents;
Whereas the DOJ has not provided a privilege log of the redactions with--
(1) the privilege asserted;
(2) the type of document;
(3) the general subject matter;
(4) the date, author, and address; and
(5) t e relationship of the author and address to each other, if any
document is withheld or redacted on the basis of a privilege;
Whereas the DOJ has failed to comply an agreement negotiated with the Committee
on the Judiciary and the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to
expedite the production of documents for this congressional
investigation following the issuance of the March 22 subpoena;
Whereas upon in camera review of documents at the DOJ, it was revealed the
Department, 1;1-nder the supervision of Mr. Rosenstein, attempted to
conceal certain facts as documents provided to Congress were heavily and
unnecessarily redacted;
Whereas the DOJ unnecessarily redacted the price of FBI Deputy Director Andrew
McCabe's $70,000 conference table because it was potentially
embarrassing information;
Whereas the DOJ redacted facts such as FBI Agent Peter Strzok's personal
relationship with FISC Judge Rudolph Contreras;
Whereas the DOJ redacted the names of high-ranking Obama administration
officials, such as former White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough;
Whereas the DOJ acknowledged the unnecessary redactions and agreed that some
information should not have been redacted in an April 16, 2018, letter;
Whereas, on May 17, 2017, Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein appointed Robert S.
Mueller III as the Special Counsel to investigate allegations of
collusion between Donald Trump's presidential campaign and Russia;
Whereas Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein authored the initial memo outlining
the scope of the investigation in May 2017;
Whereas Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein then sent a subsequent memo modifying
parameters of the investigation to Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III
on August 2, 2017, and a heavily redacted version of the memo was made
public;
Whereas Mr. Rosenstein's memo began by noting ``the following allegations were
within the scope of the investigation at the time of your appointment
and are within the scope of the order'', with nearly everything
following the mention of those initial allegations redacted;
Whereas Mr. Rosenstein's memo raises fundamental concerns related to the
government's basis for alleging ``collusion'' between the Trump campaign
and Russia, and whether these allegations resulted in potential crimes
warranting investigation;
Whereas Mr. Rosenstein's memo also raises concerns given Special Counsel
investigations are not warranted by the existence of mere allegations,
and require there be facts evident warranting a ``criminal investigation
of a person or matter'';
Whereas the memo's status as a classified document and lack of unredacted
material raise concerns the appointment of Robert S. Mueller III as
Special Counsel began outside the scope of regulations for Special
Counsel investigations by originating on a counterintelligence, rather
than criminal, basis;
Whereas, on April 9, 2018, Representative Mark Meadows and Representative Jim
Jordan sent a letter to the DOJ requesting access to the unredacted
August 2 memo in order to better understand the scope of the
investigation authorized by Mr. Rosenstein;
Whereas, on April 30, 2018, the DOJ responded in a letter indicating that they
would not provide the information to Congress, despite Congress'
oversight duty;
Whereas press reports indicate, Mr. Rosenstein approved a FISA application to
surveil Carter Page;
Whereas the application included ``salacious and unverified'' material contained
in a dossier written by former spy Christopher Steele;
Whereas the House Intel Committee Majority memo indicates, the DOJ went before
the FISA Court and failed to disclose or' reference the role of the
Democratic National Committee, the Clinton campaign, or any party or
campaign in funding Steele's efforts;
Whereas the House Intel Committee Majority memo indicates, the DOJ went before
the Court and failed to disclose the relationship between Steele and the
FBI;
Whereas the House Intel Committee Majority memo indicates, DOJ went before the
FISA Court and failed to acknowledge Steele was suspended and
subsequently terminated as an FBI source for an authorized disclosure to
the media.;
Whereas the House Intel Committee Majority memo indicates, The DOJ went before
the FISA Court and failed to disclose issues with Steele's numerous
encounters with the media violated the cardinal rule of source handling
and maintaining confidentiality, therefore compromising his credibility
as a source;
Whereas the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence issued a subpoena
to Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein on April 30, 2018, requesting
specific documents related to the misuse of FISA authorities by the DOJ
and FBI;
Whereas the DOJ has failed to comply with this subpoena;
Whereas, on June 8, 2018, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
Chairman, Devin Nunes, sent a follow-up letter requesting the DOJ
provide the Committee Members and designated staff full, unredacted
access to the documents requested in the April 30, 2018, subpoena by
Tuesday, June 12, 2018;
Whereas the DOJ did not comply with Chairman Nunes's June 12, 2018, deadline;
and
Whereas in January 2018, Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein appears to have
threatened to subpoena the calls and emails of Intelligence Committee
staff in retaliation for requesting documents and investigating the DOJ:
Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives compels the Department
of Justice to--
(1) fully comply with the March 22, 2018, subpoena issued
by the House Committee on the Judiciary;
(2) fully comply with the April 30, 2018, subpoena issued
by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence;
(3) provide all documents requested by Congress; and
(4) provide Members of Congress and designated staff with
full access to unredacted documents.
House Calendar No. 164
115th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. RES. 938
[Report No. 115-813]
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Of inquiry directing the Attorney General to provide certain documents
in the Attorney General's possession to the House of Representatives
relating to the ongoing congressional investigation related to certain
prosecutorial and investigatory decisions made by the Department of
Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation surrounding the 2016
election.
_______________________________________________________________________
July 10, 2018
Reported with an amendment, referred to the House Calendar, and ordered
to be printed