House Speaker Paul Ryan wouldn’t discount the possibility of holding Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in contempt of Congress should the Justice Department fail to fulfill all outstanding document requests.
“I am supportive of making sure we get the documents we rightly deserve, that we legitimately requested. We expect compliance,” Ryan, R-Wis., said during his weekly media briefing when asked about contempt by a reporter.
Ryan argues dispute over documents from Rosenstein is not about giving Trump pretext to fire him as Dems contend. Here’s our exchange: https://t.co/2XfG7pFjv4
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) June 21, 2018
Ryan led a meeting with senior Justice Department and FBI officials Friday, and according to House Oversight Chairman Trey Gowdy, he “made it very clear” the House will use “its full arsenal of constitutional weapons to gain compliance” on outstanding subpoenas.
For months, Republicans have pressed the DOJ for documents over concerns of bias by DOJ and FBI officials, including in regards to the Hillary Clinton emails investigation Trump-Russia inquiry.
Since the meeting Friday, at least one panel seeking documents, the House Intelligence Committee, has begun to receive some records from DOJ. But the question of whether all requests being satisfied remains unanswered.
A Justice Department official told the Washington Examiner Wednesday that they agreed to “provide a specific documents by Friday or explain why we couldn’t.”
“That process is underway, including delivery of many of the requested documents today,” the official said.
Ryan said Thursday that he plans to meet with relevant GOP chairs on Friday to discuss the situation further.
He denied a follow-up question on whether calls by members of his caucus to hold Rosenstein in contempt was “pretext” for President Trump to fire him, as at least one Democrat has suggested.
“No, I am concerned that they have been dragging their feet over at the Justice Department to giving Congress — they could have spared the country a whole bunch of drama if they would have complied with these document requests months ago when they were made in the first place,” Ryan said.
Democrats are making that case that for at least one of the subpoenas — one sent by Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va. in March — they were not properly notified, rendering it “defective.”
Rep. Jerrold Nadler, the top Democrat on the panel, wrote in a letter to Goodlatte that the subpoena was broader than they were originally told and said: “Because you did not provide me with a copy of the subpoena that actually issued, the subpoena that you eventually issued would be unenforceable as a matter of law.”
However, a House Judiciary Committee aide told Politico the final subpoena was “valid” and the the panel is working with the Justice Department to ensure their compliance. The aide also condemned the Democrats for “blocking transparency.”
Meanwhile, a Democratic aide told Politico that House parliamentarians agreed with Nadler’s interpretation, but it remains to be seen if the matter will delay enforcement of the subpoena.
