Justice Department is bracing for an onslaught of demands for records
(Bloomberg) — The Justice Department is girding for bruising clashes with House Republicans armed with indignation and subpoena power, a drama set to play out between two protagonists who couldn’t be more different — a combative former wrestling coach and a taciturn former federal judge.
One of those leading the charge in the House investigations of the Biden administration is Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican known for his confrontational style and jacket-less work attire who fires off partisan taunts in an urgent staccato.
His most immediate target is the Justice Department, particularly the FBI, led by Attorney General Merrick Garland, a buttoned-down Harvard Law graduate with a long career in federal law enforcement who moves with deliberation and speaks in measured tones.
At the center will be how much material the Justice Department should turn over, and how quickly, to the Judiciary and other committees as well as Jordan’s select subcommittee on the “weaponization” of federal agencies.
Jordan and Republicans have been peppering the Justice Department with wide-ranging demands for documents and records. Any failures to produce the material could eventually be used to cite Garland for contempt of Congress or, in the extreme, to begin impeachment proceedings.
The challenge for the attorney general and his department leaders will be navigating legitimate oversight requests while protecting ongoing investigations and avoiding partisan traps, said Robert Raben, who led the department’s office of legislative affairs under Attorney General Janet Reno.
“There is legitimate oversight and then there are political games,” Raben said in an interview. “But it’s an asymmetrical public fight as this DOJ doesn’t do politics or games, nor should it.”
Garland, 70, hasn’t countered publicly, and some Democrats have questioned whether he’s been too cautious in both the investigations involving former President Donald Trump and in responding to congressional Republicans. He will make his first appearance before the new Congress on Wednesday at a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee. With Democrats in control on that side of the Capitol, Garland will be on friendly ground. But Republicans on the panel are likely to hit him on a range of topics in parallel with their House counterparts.
Behind the scenes, the Justice Department is urging lawmakers to be patient as officials follow normal procedures to accommodate congressional requests and subpoenas.
“The department’s mission to independently and impartially uphold the rule of law requires us to maintain the integrity of our investigations, prosecutions, and civil actions, and to avoid even a perception that our efforts are influenced by anything but the law and the facts,” the department wrote in a letter to Jordan last month.
The department recently filled vacant positions to deal with the barrage of requests and expected subpoenas from multiple GOP investigations as well as the public relations challenge they present.
The department has hired communications professional Xochitl Hinojosa to head public affairs. She’s a veteran of the Obama Justice Department with experience working in Democratic political communications. The department also brought on Emma Dulaney, who previously served as a strategic adviser and deputy communications director for the House Oversight Committee, as a press secretary. In addition, at least five people have been hired in the office of legislative affairs who have experience working with Congress.
“You can’t underestimate how distracting and undermining it is to have a constant barrage of unfair accusations against you and subpoena threats,” said Raben, who now runs his own public affairs and strategic communications firm. “On the other hand, it’s the responsibility of Congress is to see that the laws are faithfully executed.”
Despite the request for patience, Jordan, 58, isn’t waiting. The Judiciary Committee issued its first subpoenas last month related to long-standing allegations by some Republicans that the DOJ and other agencies singled out parents who were challenging local school officials about coronavirus pandemic restrictions on students and other issues.
At the first meeting of his subcommittee on the “weaponization” of government agencies this month, Jordan said that an FBI whistle-blower alleged that dozens of parents were named as threats to be investigated.
“In my time in Congress, I have never seen anything like this,” Jordan said. “Dozens and dozens of whistle-blowers, FBI agents coming to us talking about what’s going on the political nature at the Justice Department.”
Garland, FBI Director Christopher Wray and Education Secretary Miguel Cardona have until March 1 to turn over the requested documents. Many relate to communications among Justice, FBI and Education officials, and outside advocates.
Jordan has also made wide-ranging demands for other documents and records, some of which involve active investigations, personnel matters or internal deliberations.
Jordan earlier this month also requested that Wray provide documents and arrange a briefing for Judiciary Committee members related to the indictment of a former top bureau official, Charles McGonigal, who had served as head of counterintelligence for the FBI’s New York office, after he was arrested and charged with accepting money from a Russian billionaire.
Democrats have dismissed the Republican efforts as a political exercise. Democratic Representative Jim McGovern of Massachusetts said the subcommittee’s purpose is “attacking law enforcement” to undercut criminal investigations and promote conspiracy theories — all of which Jordan denies.
New York’s Jerrold Nadler, the top Democrat on Judiciary, accused Republicans of using the Justice Department inquiries to provide legal cover for Trump, who includes Jordan among his key congressional allies.
Separately, the Oversight and Accountability Committee also is preparing to issue subpoenas to DOJ and other agencies in its inquiries, if necessary, Chair James Comer of Kentucky said.
The panel has been requesting information, for instance, from the National Archives tied to the discovery of classified information at Biden’s former office and Delaware home. But the agency has told lawmakers it is deferring to the Justice Department to determine whether doing so will interfere with the special counsel investigations.
Comer said he hopes subpoenas won’t be needed.
“I hope they’ll do what they’re supposed to do and provide reasonable information to the House Oversight Committee,” Comer said. “I don’t think we’ve asked for anything that anyone would say isn’t reasonable.”
–With assistance from Benjamin Penn.
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