House Speaker Paul Ryan said Tuesday he expects the Justice Department to turn over all the documents Republicans are seeking about special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, and said he hasn’t yet spoken to House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes about his call to hold Attorney General Jeff Sessions in contempt if the documents aren’t produced.
“We expect the administration to comply with our document requests as a matter of form for the executive branch and our legislative branch oversight,” Ryan said at a Tuesday morning press briefing. “So I haven’t spoken with Devin about this, we have a thorough process we go through, but we clearly expect the administration to honor our document requests.”
A spokesperson for the Justice Department, and for Nunes, R-Calif., both declined to comment.
Nunes subpoenaed the Justice Department for documents about efforts to spy on former Trump aide Carter Page. A letter obtained by the Washington Examiner over the weekend revealed that the Justice Department told him that turning over the information would impact national security.
“Disclosure of responsive information to such requests can risk severe consequences, including potential loss of human lives, damage to relationships with valued international partners, compromise of ongoing criminal investigations, and interference with intelligence activities,” wrote Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd, who heads the Justice Department’s Office of Legislative Affairs.
In a Sunday appearance on Fox News, Nunes didn’t describe in detail exactly what the documents are that he wants from the Justice Department, or why he was targeting the attorney general. Sessions is unable to deal with congressional requests relating to the Russia probe because of his recusal.
[Devin Nunes: ‘It’s crazy’ the DOJ has defied demand for document on origin of Trump-Russia probe]
Still, holding Sessions is contempt is “the only thing left to do,” Nunes said.
Speaking in California on Monday, Sessions said he cannot comply with the request from Nunes, but said the Justice Department is open to talking.
“The Department of Justice has written him a letter and responded as appropriate to him. The request he’s made is one that the intelligence communities and Department of Justice feels is not grantable,” said Sessions in response to a question. “We have explained that we would like — we would be willing to talk to him about it before, the details of which I couldn’t discuss.”
Nunes has pushed the Justice Department before on documents, often with the backing of Ryan.
House Intelligence Committee members were given access to a two-page document that Nunes said started the Russia investigation last month, after he threatened the impeachment of FBI Director Christopher Wray and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
That cooled tensions that have been simmering for months, and Nunes went so far as to thanking Rosenstein.
At the time, a Justice Department official said 1,000 pages of additional classified material were turned over to Nunes. That came after the chairman subpoenaed the documents in August 2017.
A Justice Department official told the Washington Examiner on Sunday that the decision to not comply with Nunes’ latest request was after consultation with the White House, a line Boyd mirrored in his letter.
“After careful evaluation and following consultations with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the White House, the Department has determined that, consistent with applicable law and longstanding Executive Branch policy, it is not in a position to provide information responsive to your request regarding a specific individual,” Boyd told Nunes.
The White House did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Last week however, President Trump threatened to “get involved” in the documents dispute.
“A Rigged System — They don’t want to turn over Documents to Congress. What are they afraid of? Why so much redacting? Why such unequal ‘justice?’ At some point I will have no choice but to use the powers granted to the Presidency and get involved!” Trump tweeted.
In April, Trump denounced the Justice Department’s alleged “slow walking” of documents to the House Judiciary Committee regarding the FBI’s probes of possible Trump campaign collusion with Russia and Hillary Clinton using a private email server as secretary of state.
The tweet also came days after the Justice Department refused to grant Reps. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Mark Meadows, R-N.C., access to a memo written by Rosenstein describing the scope of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe.
As president, Trump has the power to unilaterally declassify information, but ordering the release of documents on an active investigation would present additional legal and political considerations.
Jordan and Meadows have threatened to impeach Rosenstein over their documents requests, but as a “last resort.” In response, Rosenstein said the Justice Department is “not going to be extorted.”
“We have a responsibility to work with the Congress, and they have a responsibility to understand their duty is not to interfere … as long as everyone understands that, we’re able to work these things out,” the Justice Department’s No. 2 said at an event in Washington last week. “I have a responsibility as deputy attorney general, as does the attorney general, to defend the independence and integrity of Department of Justice. Were we to just open our doors to allow Congress to come and rummage thorough the files, that would be a serous infringement on the separation of powers.”
