All Democrats on Oversight and Judiciary Committees Demand Immediate Investigation of President, Attorney General, and Top White House Aides

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 16, 2017

Contacts
Jennifer Werner/Aryele Bradford: 202-226-5181(Cummings)
Shadawn Reddick-Smith: 202-225-6906 (Conyers)


Washington, D.C. (May 16, 2017)—Today, all 34 Democratic Members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the House Committee on the Judiciary sent a detailed letter to their respective Republican Chairmen outlining their demand for an immediate investigation into the actions of President Donald Trump, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and top White House aides:

“We are writing to request that the Oversight Committee and the Judiciary Committee launch an immediate joint investigation into whether President Donald Trump and his top officials are engaged in an ongoing conspiracy to obstruct the criminal, counter-intelligence, and oversight investigations currently being conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Justice, and Congress into members of his presidential campaign and their contacts with Russian officials.”

The letter explains:

“Given the gravity of the events that have occurred over the past several weeks, there is simply no reasonable question that the Oversight Committee and Judiciary Committee should already be conducting a robust investigation of these issues that includes public hearings, document requests, and interviews and depositions. It is unacceptable to continue ignoring these scandals.”

With respect to the Oversight Committee’s lack of action to date, the letter states:

“Although Chairman Chaffetz recently sent a letter to the Department of Justice Inspector General, we believe that response is anemic—especially for the Oversight Committee, which claims to be the premiere investigative body in the House of Representatives—and particularly in comparison to the multiple ‘emergency’ hearings he called and the unilateral subpoenas he issued as part of the investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.”

With respect to the Judiciary Committee’s lack of action to date, the letter states:

“On several occasions—through at least four letters to Chairman Goodlatte, and in debate on three separate resolutions of inquiry debated in the Judiciary Committee—we have called for the Majority to take action ‘to ensure the integrity and independence of both the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’.”

The Members conclude:

“We are concerned that the continued failure of House Republicans to take action in the face of this onslaught of allegations will cause significant damage to the faith that the American people have in the credibility and integrity of our Committees and the House of Representatives. We have a solemn obligation under the Constitution to act as a check on the Executive Branch and to hold President Trump accountable. It is time to do our job.”

The letter requests an immediate public hearing with Director Comey and copies of all of the FBI Director’s memos relating to the President, as well as all associated agency and White House records, including any audio tapes, and notes, if they exist.

The letter also requests that the Oversight Committee schedule an immediate vote on a motion to subpoena the White House to produce documents it has been withholding in response to the bipartisan request from Ranking Member Cummings and Chairman Chaffetz on March 22, 2017. All Democratic Members of the Oversight Committee sent a letter to Chairman Chaffetz on April 27, 2017, insisting that he press the White House to produce these documents, but the Chairman refused to even hold a meeting.

Link to read the full letter: https://democrats-oversight.house.gov/sites/democrats.oversight.house.gov/files/documents/All%20Oversight%20and%20Judiciary%20Dems%20to%20Chairs%2005-16-17.pdf

List of Members Signing Letter

Elijah E. Cummings John Conyers, Jr.
Ranking Member Ranking Member
Committee on Oversight and Committee on the Judiciary
Government Reform

Carolyn Maloney
Eleanor Holmes Norton Jerrold Nadler
Wm. Lacy Clay Zoe Lofgren
Stephen F. Lynch Sheila Jackson Lee
Jim Cooper Steve Cohen
Gerald E. Connolly Henry Johnson
Robin L. Kelly Luis Gutierrez
Brenda L. Lawrence Karen Bass
Bonnie Watson Coleman Cedric Richmond
Stacey E. Plaskett Hakeem Jeffries
Val Butler Demings David Cicilline
Raja Krishnamoorthi Eric Swalwell
Jamie Raskin Ted Lieu
Peter Welch Pramila Jayapal
Matt Cartwright Bradley Schneider
Mark DeSaulnier Theodore Deutch
John Sarbanes