Democratic lawmakers from both the House and Senate are preparing a letter they will send to several executive branch agencies seeking preservation of documents the agencies provided special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, the Washington Post reported Friday.
Among the signatories of the letter are the leaders of six House committees that have embarked on obstruction and corruption investigations into President Trump and his inner circle, now that Democrats have taken control of the lower chamber.
Shortly after Mueller submits his final report to Attorney General Bill Barr, the lawmakers plan on sending the letter to various agencies and entities, including the Department of Justice, FBI and White House Counsel’s Office, according to the report.
Under the Justice Department special counsel regulations, Barr is required to notify Congress when Mueller’s probe is concluded, but it is an open question as to how much of the report itself Barr will share with Congress. Barr has promised to be as transparent as possible. But he has hedged those promises with references to DOJ policy discouraging the release of damaging information about individuals the department doesn’t charge.
According to the Washington Post, the House committee chairs signing the letter are Judiciary Chairman Jared Nadler (D-NY), House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam B. Schiff (D-CA) Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah E. Cummings (D-MD), Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot L. Engel (D-NY); Ways and Means Chairman Richard E. Neal (D-MA.), and Financial Services Chairman Maxine Waters (D-CA).
The Senate signatories are Judiciary Committee ranking member Dianne Feinstein (D-CA); Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner (D-VA), Finance Committee ranking member Ron Wyden (D-OR); Foreign Relations Committee ranking member Robert Menendez (D-NJ); and Banking Committee ranking member Sherrod Brown (D-OH).
