[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 970 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 970

    Insisting that the Department of Justice fully comply with the 
  requests, including subpoenas, of the Permanent Select Committee on 
Intelligence and the subpoena issued by the Committee on the Judiciary 
     relating to potential violations of the Foreign Intelligence 
Surveillance Act by personnel of the Department of Justice and related 
                                matters.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 27, 2018

Mr. Meadows (for himself, Mr. Jordan, Mr. Buck, Mr. Gaetz, Mr. Johnson 
of Louisiana, Mr. DeSantis, Mr. DesJarlais, Mr. Zeldin, Mr. Perry, Mr. 
    Gosar, Mr. Brat, Mr. Duncan of South Carolina, Mr. Harris, Mr. 
  Davidson, Mr. Biggs, Mr. Scalise, Mr. Jody B. Hice of Georgia, Mr. 
 Norman, Mr. Mooney of West Virginia, and Mr. Griffith) submitted the 
   following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the 
    Judiciary, and in addition to the Permanent Select Committee on 
   Intelligence (Permanent Select), for a period to be subsequently 
   determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
    Insisting that the Department of Justice fully comply with the 
  requests, including subpoenas, of the Permanent Select Committee on 
Intelligence and the subpoena issued by the Committee on the Judiciary 
     relating to potential violations of the Foreign Intelligence 
Surveillance Act by personnel of the Department of Justice and related 
                                matters.

Whereas ``the power of the Congress to conduct investigations is inherent in the 
        legislative process. That power is broad. It encompasses inquiries 
        concerning the administration of existing laws as well as proposed or 
        possibly needed statutes [and] comprehends probes into departments of 
        the Federal Government to expose corruption, inefficiency or waste.'' 
        (Watkins v. United States (354 U.S. 178, 187));
Whereas a necessary corollary of Congress's oversight and investigative 
        authority is the power to issue and enforce subpoenas. The ``[I]ssuance 
        of subpoenas . . . has long been held to be a legitimate use by Congress 
        of its power to investigate.'' (Eastland v. U.S. Serviceman's Fund (421 
        U.S. 491, 504));
Whereas Chairman Devin Nunes of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence 
        of the House of Representatives requested information on potential 
        abuses of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act in a March 8, 2017, 
        letter to the Department of Justice;
Whereas the Committee reviewed responsive documents on March 17, 2017, but 
        thereafter the Department of Justice refused to make the documents 
        available;
Whereas Chairman Nunes issued a subpoena on August 24, 2017, to include the 
        documents sought on March 8, 2017;
Whereas the Department of Justice came to substantially comply with the subpoena 
        10 months after the subpoena and more than one year from the original 
        request;
Whereas Chairman Nunes sought documents related to 9 current or former 
        Department of Justice personnel in a March 23, 2018, letter;
Whereas the Department of Justice complied with the request relating to one 
        individual on May 8, 2018, but has yet to fully comply with the other 
        requests;
Whereas Chairman Nunes sent a letter classified ``SECRET'' on April 24, 2018, 
        followed by a subpoena on April 30, 2018, which demanded the production 
        of all documents related to the issue identified in the earlier letter;
Whereas compliance with this letter and subpoena has to date been limited to 
        briefings and access to supporting documents, which have not been 
        provided to all of the Members and cleared staff of the Permanent Select 
        Committee on Intelligence;
Whereas the exclusion of the Members and cleared staff from access to these 
        briefings and supporting documents amounts to non-compliance with the 
        April 30 subpoena;
Whereas, on October 24, 2017, the Committees on the Judiciary and Oversight and 
        Government Reform opened a joint investigation into the decisions made 
        by the Department of Justice in 2016 and 2017 related to its handling of 
        the investigation of the emails of former Secretary of State Hillary 
        Clinton;
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 5 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 of 
        Justice 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 Department of Justice 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 referring or relating to internal 
Department of Justice or Federal Bureau of Investigation management 
requests to review, scrub, report on, or analyze any reporting of Foreign 
Intelligence Surveillance Act collection involving, or coverage mentioning, 
the Trump campaign or the Trump administration;

    (2) all documents and communications referring or relating to defensive 
briefings provided by the Department of Justice or the Federal Bureau of 
Investigation to the 2016 presidential campaigns of Hillary Clinton or 
President Trump; and

    (3) all documents and communications referring or relating to proposed, 
recommended, or actual Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act coverage on 
the Clinton Foundation or persons associated or in communication with the 
Clinton Foundation; and

Whereas the Department of Justice has failed to comply with the March 22 
        subpoena by failing to substantially comply with the demand for the 
        production of all of these categories of documents: Now, therefore, be 
        it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives insists that, by not 
later than July 6, 2018, the Department of Justice fully comply with 
the requests, including subpoenas, of the Permanent Select Committee on 
Intelligence and the subpoena issued by the Committee on the Judiciary 
relating to potential violations of the Foreign Intelligence 
Surveillance Act by personnel of the Department of Justice and related 
matters.
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