The top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee is pushing for two high-profile lawyers just added to the panel’s oversight effort to recuse themselves from any investigation that could directly implicate President Trump over concerns of potential bias and the burden on taxpayers.
Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., announced on Tuesday the Democratic majority were hiring former Obama administration ethics czar Norm Eisen and trial attorney Barry Berke as consultants to help with “oversight matters related to the Department of Justice, including the Department’s review of Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation, and other oversight and policy issues within the Committee’s jurisdiction.”
In a letter to Nadler on Wednesday, Rep, Doug Collins, R-Ga., noted Eisen and Berke are known Trump critics and cited reports that came out within minutes of Nadler’s announcement indicating that both men’s work for the committee will be targeted at Trump and could be used in impeachment proceedings.
“The hiring of these two individuals, and the apparent wide breadth of subject matter they will be covering for the sole benefit of the Majority staff, raises significant concerns,” Collins wrote.
Not only have Eisen and Berke been critical of Trump, but they also co-authored a Brookings Institution report that lays out a case for obstruction of justice against the president. Collins took issue with this as well as Berke’s past donations to Democrats, Collins told Nadler.
“Your unilateral decision to hire two individuals with such obvious bias against the president will taint anything they touch moving forward,” Collins wrote. “Unless Mr. Berke and Mr. Eisen are recused from working on matters that directly implicate the president, there is no way the American people can have confidence the Committee is anything more than a large megaphone for partisan political charades.”
Collins also provided Nadler with a list of 12 questions to address his concerns about the cost of hiring Eisen and Berke, pushing for transparency for matters like commuting costs and how much money they will be making while retaining positions and partnerships at other institutions.
Berke is retaining his partnership at the Kramer Levin law firm in New York while Eisen, a co-founder of the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and former White House special counsel for ethics and government reform under President Barack Obama, is retaining his position at the Brookings Institution, a think tank in Washington, D.C.
