H.Res. 970, Expressing the sense of the Congress, that within 7 days of enactment, that the Department of Justice shall provide certain documents in its possession to the House of Representatives relating to the ongoing congressional investigation of cert

Floor Situation

On Thursday, June 28, 2018, the House will consider H.Res. 970, Expressing the sense of the Congress, that within 7 days of enactment, that the Department of Justice shall provide certain documents in its possession to the House of Representatives relating to the ongoing congressional investigation of certain prosecutorial and investigatory decisions made by the Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation surrounding the 2016 election, under a closed rule. This resolution was introduced on June 13, 2018 by Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) and was referred to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the House Committee on the Judiciary.

Summary

H.Res. 970 insists that the Department of Justice fully comply, by July 6th, 2018, 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.

Background

Sense of the House resolutions take the form of simple resolutions, because they require the approval of only one chamber. A "sense of" resolution is not legally binding because it is not presented to the President for his signature.[1]

"Sense of" resolutions are generally considered under the normal legislative processes of each chamber applicable to any other legislative vehicle. Because "sense of" resolutions do not involve the expenditure of public funds, such resolutions, if reported from House committees, are placed on the House calendar. Typically, the House has considered them under the suspension of the rules procedure, by unanimous consent request, and (rarely) under the terms of a special rule reported from the Committee on Rules and adopted by the House. As adopted in the 114th Congress (2015-2016), the rules of the House Republican Conference include language that limits the use of the suspension of the rules procedure for certain types of honorific or commemorative legislation. This rule could effectively preclude the consideration of some "sense of" legislation in the House. The House Republican leadership has also announced several "Legislative Protocols," one of which is intended to clarify the application of Conference Rule 28.[2] Protocol 7 states that a "resolution of bereavement, or condemnation, or which calls on others to take a particular action, but which does not otherwise violate the provisions of Rule 28 is eligible to be scheduled under suspension of the Rules."[3]

This resolution comes after Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein declined numerous times to comply with Congressional inquiries, including a violation of two subpoenas—one issued by House Committee on the Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) and another issued by House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA).[4]

In summary, this resolution is in response to the following actions:

• 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;
• The Committee reviewed responsive documents on March 17, 2017, but thereafter the Department of Justice refused to make the documents available;
• Chairman Nunes issued a subpoena on August 24, 2017 to include the documents sought on March 8, 2017;
• 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;
• Chairman Nunes sought documents related to 9 current or former Department of Justice personnel in a March 23, 2018 letter;
• 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;
• 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;
• 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;
• 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;
• 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;
• 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;
• 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;
• On February 1, 2018, Chairman Goodlatte sent a letter requesting documents related to potential Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act abuses;
• 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;
• 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;
• 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.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) issued a subpoena on Friday commanding FBI agent Peter Strzok to testify before the committee next week. Strzok's testimony is scheduled to take place on Wednesday at 10:00 a.m., according to a press release from the Judiciary Committee.[5]

Strzok was one of two FBI officials removed from special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into alleged ties between the Trump campaign and Russia after it was revealed that he and his colleague, Lisa Page, had sent text messages that were highly critical of then-candidate Trump.[6]

On June 24, 2018, Chairman Nunes send a letter to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein inquiring whether he or FBI Director Christopher Wray is “responsible for compliance with the Committee’s subpoenas.” Among the information Nunes is seeking is documentation on the use of a confidential informant in the early stages of the investigation into the campaign.[7]

The Justice Department has resisted providing information on the informant to the whole of Congress, arguing that it would needlessly expose sensitive sources and methods and endanger lives. It has limited briefings to the Gang of Eight — the top Republican and Democrat in each chamber, as well as the top Republican and Democrat on each of the Intelligence committees.[8]

Cost

A Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimate is not currently available.

Staff Contact

For questions or further information please contact Ryan Hofmann with the House Republican Policy Committee by email or at 2-6674.