[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 130 (Monday, July 26, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5066-S5067]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   NOMINATIONS OF HELAINE ANN GREENFELD AND CHRISTOPHER H. SCHROEDER

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I intend to object to any unanimous 
consent request relating to the nomination of Helaine Ann Greenfeld, to 
be an Assistant Attorney General at the Department of Justice, PN459, 
and Christopher H. Schroeder, to be an Assistant Attorney General at 
the Department of Justice, PN370.
  Last week, at the Senate Judiciary Committee's executive business 
meeting, I noted my intent to vote for both nominees but object to any 
unanimous consent request for their confirmation. Ms. Greenfeld will 
lead the Justice Department's Office of Legislative Affairs and Mr. 
Schroeder will lead the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel. 
Both of these components are at the heart of my congressional oversight 
requests and the Department's failure to respond. I have made this 
decision clearly not on the basis of their credentials but on the basis 
of the Justice Department's failure to respond to congressional 
oversight requests.
  To date, the Justice Department has failed to provide a full and 
complete response to any of my oversight requests. I said the same 
thing when I objected to any unanimous consent request relating to the 
Kenneth Polite nomination on June 22, 2021. Nothing has changed.
  For example, on July 15, 2021, my staff had yet another call with the 
Justice Department's Office of Legislative Affairs, the very office Ms. 
Greenfeld will be in charge of. On that call, the Department wanted to 
know why I had a hold on Mr. Polite and whether they could do anything 
to change my mind. My staff made clear to the Department that the 
issues before them are quite simple: Attorney General Garland must 
respond to my oversight letters and records requests.
  The Department asked for that call with my staff, and the Department 
did not provide my staff a substantive update on any of my oversight 
requests. It is absurd for the Department to schedule a call relating 
to my hold on Mr. Polite, which was done due to the Department's 
consistent failure to respond to my oversight requests, and then have 
no updates relating to any of my oversight requests.
  As one of many examples of unanswered questions and requests, on 
February 3, 2021, and March 9, 2021, Senator Johnson and I requested 
information from the Justice Department relating to Nicholas McQuaid. 
Mr. McQuaid was Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal 
Division, the position Mr. Polite now holds. In those letters, we 
raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest in light of the 
fact that Mr. McQuaid was employed at Latham & Watkins until January 
20, 2021, and worked with Christopher Clark, whom Hunter Biden 
reportedly hired to work on his Federal criminal case.
  This arrangement presents an ongoing potential conflict of interest 
given the fact Mr. McQuaid is still employed at the Criminal Division 
as the Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General. A core function of 
congressional oversight is to ensure that governmental departments and 
agencies are free of conflicts of interest. That is especially so with 
the Justice Department and FBI. If conflicts infect them, those 
investigations and prosecutions--the very purpose of the Department's 
existence--could be undermined.
  As a part of my oversight, I have requested a recusal memo for Mr. 
McQuaid. I have also requested to know, as a threshold issue, whether 
one even exists.
  Attorney General Garland has failed to answer and provide the 
requested records. I have noted to the Department that in 2016, I 
received from the Department Andrew McCabe's recusal memo to illustrate 
precedent exists for such a production to Congress. Still, the Justice 
Department refuses to provide the same for Mr. McQuaid.
  On the July 15, 2021, call with my staff, they again raised my 
questions about Mr. McQuaid. The Department was unable to provide any 
legitimate basis upon which it could not answer my questions and again 
failed to provide any update on the Department's response.
  As I have noted before with respect to the Federal Government's 
failure to respond to legitimate congressional oversight requests, 
there is nothing more eroding of public faith than an unresponsive 
executive branch that believes it only answers to the President and not 
the U.S. Congress and, perhaps most importantly, ``We the People.''
  This administration's continued, ongoing, and blatant lack of 
cooperation has again forced my hand.

[[Page S5067]]

  Thus, unfortunately, I must object to any consideration of these 
nominees. My objection is not intended to question the credentials of 
Ms. Greenfeld and Mr. Schroeder in any way. The executive branch must 
recognize that it has an ongoing obligation to respond to congressional 
inquiries in a timely and reasonable manner.

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