House Speaker Paul Ryan said he is considering “all of our options,” to force the Department of Justice to turn over documents relating to surveillance of the Trump campaign.
Ryan called on the department to voluntarily provide the material to “spare our country a whole lot of drama,” in a protracted battle with Congress.
Ryan, R-Wis., said the DOJ is resisting year-long “legitimate oversight requests,” from the House Intelligence Committee and it has resulted in a worsening relationship with the GOP-led House.
“The more they delay, the more they stalemate the worse it gets,” Ryan said.
Ryan called on the department to turn over the documents, which were requested months ago by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., in his probe of the department’s surveillance of President Trump’s 2016 campaign.
Nunes wants to know if the FBI misused surveillance law in their probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election and specifically their scrutiny of Trump campaign officials.
[Related: Devin Nunes to DOJ: Hand over docs on alleged FBI informant by Tuesday or it’s ‘obstruction’]
Nunes has threatened to hold Attorney General Jeff Session in contempt of Congress for failing to turn over the material. Sessions has said the department is working with the committee to provide as much information as possible.
Ryan said Thursday that Congress has the authority and obligation to provide robust oversight of the department and should be allowed to see the documents Nunes is requesting.
“We are looking at all of our options,” Ryan said, when asked Thursday how the GOP-led House will respond if DOJ does not produce the materials. “But right now, I just want them to comply – comply with our legitimate oversight request and we would spare the country a whole lot of drama if they were to comply.”
