H. Res. 970 
In the House of Representatives, U. S., 
June 28, 2018. 
Whereas ‘‘the power of the Congress to conduct investiga-
tions is inherent in the legislative process. That power is 
broad. It encompasses inquiries concerning the adminis-
tration of existing laws as well as proposed or possibly 
needed statutes [and] comprehends probes into depart-
ments 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 in-
vestigative 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 Representa-
tives 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 Jus-
tice refused to make the documents available;
•HRES 970 EH 
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 cur-
rent 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 docu-
ments, which have not been provided to all of the Mem-
bers and cleared staff of the Permanent Select Com-
mittee 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 Judici-
ary and Oversight and Government Reform opened a 
joint investigation into the decisions made by the Depart-
ment 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, Chair-
man Gowdy, and four Members of Congress sent a letter
•HRES 970 EH 
to Attorney General Sessions and Deputy Attorney Gen-
eral Rosenstein requesting 5 specific categories of docu-
ments; 
Whereas on December 12, 2017, Chairman Goodlatte, Chair-
man Gowdy, and other Members sent a letter empha-
sizing 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 infor-
mation, and redacted pages to the point where they con-
tain 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 Bu-
reau of Investigation management requests to review, 
scrub, report on, or analyze any reporting of Foreign In-
telligence Surveillance Act collection involving, or cov-
erage mentioning, the Trump campaign or the Trump 
administration, 
(2) all documents and communications referring or 
relating to defensive briefings provided by the Depart-
ment 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 In-