Title: 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.
Policy area: Congress

Summary:
Compels the Department of Justice to fully comply with the March 22, 2018, subpoena issued by the House Committee on the Judiciary and with the April 30, 2018, subpoena issued by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 937 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 937

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.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 13, 2018

 Mr. Meadows (for himself, Mr. Jordan, Mr. Perry, Mr. Jody B. Hice of 
 Georgia, Mr. Gosar, Mr. Gaetz, Mr. DeSantis, and Mr. Yoho) submitted 
 the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the 
    Judiciary, and in addition to the Permanent Select Committee on 
   Intelligence (Permanent Select), for a period to be subsequently 
   determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
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.

Whereas after the recusal of Attorney General Jeff Sessions on March 2, 2017, 
        from any matter potentially relating to the 2016 campaign, Deputy 
        Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has overseen the Department's response 
        to the congressional investigations into the Department of Justice (DOJ) 
        and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI);
Whereas a second Special Counsel was first requested on July 27, 2017, by House 
        Committee on Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte and 19 Members of 
        Congress;
Whereas, on September 26, 2017, Chairman Goodlatte and 13 Members of Congress 
        sent a letter repeating the call for a second Special Counsel;
Whereas, on March 6, 2018, Chairman Goodlatte and House Committee on Oversight 
        and Government Reform Chairman Trey Gowdy called for the appointment of 
        a second Special Counsel to investigate these matters;
Whereas, on May 22, 2018, Representative Lee Zeldin, along with 31 Members of 
        Congress, introduced House Resolution 907 calling for a second Special 
        Counsel;
Whereas Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Majority Whip Steve Scalise have 
        supported the appointment of a second Special Counsel;
Whereas Mr. Rosenstein and the DOJ have repeatedly failed to produce documents 
        requested by the Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on 
        Oversight and Government Reform, obstructing Congress' oversight duty;
Whereas, on October 24, 2017, the Committee on Judiciary and the Committee on 
        Oversight and Government Reform opened a joint investigation into the 
        decisions made by the DOJ in 2016 and 2017 related to their handling of 
        the Secretary Hillary Clinton email investigation;
Whereas, 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 five specific categories 
        of documents;
Whereas, on December 12, 2017, Chairman Goodlatte, Chairman Gowdy, and other 
        Members sent a letter emphasizing the expectation that the Department 
        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 DOJ has missed document production deadlines, produced duplicative 
        pages of information, and redacted pages to the point where they contain 
        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 with the Foreign Intelligence 
Surveillance Court (FISC) referring or relating to any Foreign Intelligence 
Surveillance Act (FISA) applications associated with Carter Page or 
individuals on President Trump's 2016 presidential campaign or part of the 
Trump administration;

    (2) all documents and communications referring or relating to FISC 
hearings and deliberations, including any court transcripts, related to any 
FISA applications associated with Carter Page or the Trump campaign or 
Trump administration;

    (3) all documents and communications referring or relating to internal 
DOJ or FBI management requests to review, scrub, report on, or analyze any 
reporting of FISA collection involving, or coverage mentioning, the Trump 
campaign or Trump administration; and

    (4) all documents and communications referring or relating to defensive 
briefings provided by the DOJ or FBI to the 2016 presidential campaigns of 
Hillary Clinton or President Trump;

Whereas the DOJ has violated this congressional subpoena by failing to produce 
        each of these categories of documents;
Whereas Mr. Rosenstein and the DOJ have refused to provide an alternative 
        timeline for providing these categories of documents;
Whereas the DOJ has not provided a privilege log of the redactions with--

    (1) the privilege asserted;

    (2) the type of document;

    (3) the general subject matter;

    (4) the date, author, and address; and

    (5) the relationship of the author and address to each other, if any 
document is withheld or redacted on the basis of a privilege;

Whereas the DOJ has failed to comply with a memorandum of understanding 
        negotiated with the Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on 
        Oversight and Government Reform to expedite the production of documents 
        for this congressional investigation following the issuance of the March 
        22 subpoena;
Whereas upon in camera review of documents at the DOJ, it was revealed the 
        Department, under the supervision of Mr. Rosenstein, attempted to 
        conceal certain facts as documents provided to Congress were heavily and 
        unnecessarily redacted;
Whereas the DOJ unnecessarily redacted the price of FBI Deputy Director Andrew 
        McCabe's $70,000 conference table because it was potentially 
        embarrassing information;
Whereas the DOJ redacted facts such as FBI Agent Peter Strzok's personal 
        relationship with FISC Judge Rudolph Contreras;
Whereas the DOJ redacted the names of high-ranking Obama administration 
        officials, such as former White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough;
Whereas the DOJ acknowledged the unnecessary redactions and agreed that some 
        information should not have been redacted in an April 16, 2018, letter;
Whereas, on May 17, 2017, Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein appointed Robert S. 
        Mueller III as the Special Counsel to investigate allegations of 
        collusion between Donald Trump's presidential campaign and Russia;
Whereas Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein authored the initial memo outlining 
        the scope of the investigation in May 2017;
Whereas Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein then sent a subsequent memo modifying 
        parameters of the investigation to Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III 
        on August 2, 2017, and a heavily redacted version of the memo was made 
        public;
Whereas Mr. Rosenstein's memo began by noting ``the following allegations were 
        within the scope of the investigation at the time of your appointment 
        and are within the scope of the order'', with nearly everything 
        following the mention of those initial allegations redacted;
Whereas Mr. Rosenstein's memo raises fundamental concerns related to the 
        government's basis for alleging ``collusion'' between the Trump campaign 
        and Russia, and whether these allegations resulted in potential crimes 
        warranting investigation;
Whereas Mr. Rosenstein's memo also raises concerns given Special Counsel 
        investigations are not warranted by the existence of mere allegations, 
        and require there be facts evident warranting a ``criminal investigation 
        of a person or matter'';
Whereas the memo's status as a classified document and lack of unredacted 
        material raise concerns the appointment of Robert S. Mueller III as 
        Special Counsel began outside the scope of regulations for Special 
        Counsel investigations by originating on a counterintelligence, rather 
        than criminal, basis;
Whereas, on April 9, 2018, Representative Mark Meadows and Representative Jim 
        Jordan sent a letter to the DOJ requesting access to the unredacted 
        August 2 memo in order to better understand the scope of the 
        investigation authorized by Mr. Rosenstein;
Whereas, on April 30, 2018, the DOJ responded in a letter indicating that they 
        would not provide the information to Congress, despite Congress' 
        oversight duty;
Whereas Mr. Rosenstein approved a FISA application to surveil Carter Page;
Whereas the application approved by Mr. Rosenstein included ``salacious and 
        unverified'' material contained in a dossier written by former spy 
        Christopher Steele;
Whereas the DOJ went before the FISA Court and failed to disclose or reference 
        the role of the Democratic National Committee, the Clinton campaign, or 
        any party or campaign in funding Steele's efforts;
Whereas the DOJ went before the FISA Court and failed to disclose the 
        relationship between Steele and the FBI;
Whereas the DOJ went before the FISA Court and failed to acknowledge Steele was 
        suspended and subsequently terminated as an FBI source for an authorized 
        disclosure to the media;
Whereas, the DOJ went before the FISA Court and failed to disclose issues with 
        Steele's numerous encounters with the media violated the cardinal rule 
        of source handling and maintaining confidentiality, therefore 
        compromising his credibility as a source;
Whereas the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence issued a subpoena 
        to Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein on April 30, 2018, requesting 
        specific documents related to the misuse of FISA authorities by the DOJ 
        and FBI;
Whereas the DOJ has failed to comply with this subpoena;
Whereas, on June 8, 2018, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence 
        Chairman, Devin Nunes, sent a follow-up letter requesting the DOJ 
        provide the Committee Members and designated staff full, unredacted 
        access to the documents requested in the April 30, 2018, subpoena by 
        Tuesday, June 12, 2018;
Whereas the DOJ did not comply with Chairman Nunes's June 12, 2018, deadline; 
        and
Whereas in January 2018, Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein appears to have 
        threatened to subpoena the calls and emails of Intelligence Committee 
        staff in retaliation for requesting documents and investigating the DOJ: 
        Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives compels the Department 
of Justice to--
            (1) fully comply with the March 22, 2018, subpoena issued 
        by the House Committee on the Judiciary;
            (2) fully comply with the April 30, 2018, subpoena issued 
        by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence;
            (3) provide all documents requested by Congress; and
            (4) provide Members of Congress and designated staff with 
        full access to unredacted documents.
                                 <all>