In a letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), the DOJ clarified that it is not obtaining its criminal evidence against Trump.
CNN reported:
Responding to the flurry of document requests, DOJ said in a letter to House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan that “any oversight requests must be weighed against the department’s interests in protecting the integrity of its work.”
The letter added: “The Department’s mission to independently and impartially uphold the rule of law requires us to maintain the integrity of our investigations, prosecutions and civil actions and to avoid the perception that our efforts are influenced by anything other than the law and the facts.”
…
Citing former President Ronald Reagan, the letter sheds light on how the department has resisted providing information related to ongoing investigations, even as the department pledged Friday to accommodate lawmakers’ requests.
Sign up for our newsletter:
In other words, the DOJ sent a message that Jordan could forget about getting anything that would compromise the ongoing investigation.
A big reason why Republicans wanted their Select Committee so badly was that they seemed to think it would allow them to help Trump avoid impeachment. He appears to be hoping to use the committee to pass information to Trump, as then-Representative Devin Nunes did from his leadership post on the House Intelligence Committee during the Mueller investigation.
Jim Jordan needs to decide if he wants to get into a long and potentially expensive court fight with the DOJ because the criminal evidence he claims he wants won’t turn up.
Jason is the managing editor. He is a member of the White House Press Pool and a Congressional Correspondent for PoliticoUSA. Jason holds a Masters in Political Science. Her graduate work focused on public policy with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association