By Kyle Cheney

“That the president of the United States would place in doubt the idea of the peaceful transfer of power, well it’s not a surprise,” said Speaker Nancy Pelosi, shown during a news conference on Sept. 24. | Jose Luis Magana/AP Photo Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that President Donald Trump’s refusal to guarantee a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the election could be cured […]

“Our democracy is not self-effectuating — it takes work and a commitment to guard it against those who would undermine it, whether foreign or domestic,” the seven House committee chairs unveiling the bill said in a statement. “It is time for Congress to strengthen the bedrock of our democracy and ensure our laws are strong enough to withstand a lawless president.” The measure, which Democrats have […]

House Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel is also probing President Donald Trump’s decision earlier this year to fire State Department inspector general Steve Linick. | Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo House Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel has subpoenaed Michael Pack, President Donald Trump’s appointee to lead the U.S. government’s foreign broadcast media arm. Pack, CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media and a close ally of former […]

U.S. Attorney John Durham. | Anna Moneymaker-Pool/Getty Images Four House committee chairs are asking the Justice Department’s top watchdog to open an “emergency” review of Attorney General Bill Barr’s handling of an investigation into the origins of the FBI’s Trump-Russia probe, questioning whether that probe — led by U.S. Attorney John Durham — is complying with DOJ rules intended to avoid influencing an imminent election. “We […]

A House Intelligence Committee official said the panel is still planning to hear from Murphy on Monday and had not yet formally postponed the deposition. Murphy’s 24-page complaint, delivered earlier this month to the House and Senate intelligence panels, described a series of alleged abuses by top DHS officials, including seeking to suppress intelligence about Russia because the reports would make “the president look bad.” Murphy […]

Sen. Ron Johnson speaks at the start of a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing in March. | Samuel Corum/Getty Images Senate Homeland Security Chairman Ron Johnson is asking a Justice Department watchdog to probe recently revealed documents that suggest members of special counsel Robert Mueller’s team wiped records from their official phones. Records released by the Justice Department this week in response to a Freedom of […]

Spivey emphasized that DHS had been willing to make Wolf’s deputy Ken Cuccinelli available to testify, which she said should have been sufficient since he’s fully versed in the same subjects as Wolf. Thompson said in a statement that Wolf’s refusal to testify at the panel’s annual “worldwide threats” hearing was an abdication at a critical time. “The Committee has not only the authority, but also […]

Schiff’s request comes as the Senate Intelligence Committee, also in receipt of Murphy’s complaint, has asked the department to produce all of the intelligence analyses that Murphy referenced in his complaint, as well as any notes and materials that fed into them. That letter, a bipartisan request from the panel’s acting chairman Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and vice chairman Mark Warner (D-Va.), seeks the documents by Sept. […]

The filing was the latest development in the House’s winding quest to access Trump’s financial documents from his accounting firm, Mazars USA. Democrats have said they need them as part of potential legislation to reform financial disclosures and curb corruption. Trump’s decision to maintain ties to his businesses — and evidence provided by his former attorney Michael Cohen that Trump routinely inflated his assets to obtain […]

Tom Williams-Pool/Getty Images The House Oversight Committee is preparing to issue a subpoena for Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, accusing him of ignoring the panel’s demand for documents related to Postal Service mail delays and contacts with White House officials or the Trump campaign Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) indicated Monday that DeJoy had refused to comply with a request for documents she issued during his testimony to […]

The charge by Maloney foreshadowed a brawl between the Democrat-led committee and the Trump-appointed Postal Service leaders over DeJoy’s appointment. DeJoy told the Senate on Friday that any delays caused by changes he implemented upon taking the role were the result of previously implemented policy changes — which he’s now paused until after the election. But Democrats worry damage has already been done to weaken the […]

Trump has provided no evidence to support the claim, and Yates said under oath that Obama’s only interest in Flynn was to ensure that it was safe to share sensitive national security information with the incoming administration while the FBI was probing concerns that Flynn was attempting to undermine sanctions leveled by Obama in response to Russia’s interference in the 2016 election. “General Flynn had essentially […]

Bulatao had been slated to appear on July 2 but Democrats deferred to a State Department request for a delay on the eve of his testimony, citing the need to review the recently complete inspector general’s report on the Saudi arms sale. Democrats also agreed to postpone the other witness depositions until after Bulatao’s appearance, but by Monday their patience had run out. In a required […]

The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Engel has threatened to subpoena for the documents since May, when Johnson’s probe began ramping up. Johnson has indicated that a report on his findings could be released this summer, and his panel is also attempting to obtain testimony from top Obama administration national security and diplomatic officials. He has denied that his investigation […]

“Does the ranking member wish to respond?” asked House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.). “No,” Nunes replied. Maloney responded by suggesting that Nunes’s refusal to answer “speaks volumes” and indicated that committee staffers are “in possession of evidence that a package was received.” That evidence, according to committee officials, is in the form of a DHL shipping receipt that was sent to the Intelligence Committee’s […]

But Eisen’s 280-page chronicle of the impeachment era, replete with his inside-the-room knowledge of how the process unfolded, juxtaposes lawmakers’ lofty pronouncements about protecting democracy with the often provincial tensions and messy House politics that drove decisions of national significance. Eisen, who signed up as a House Judiciary Committee attorney in early 2019 with an eye toward impeachment, also describes the hail of early “f— you’s” […]

The measure is a response to what they say is Trump’s effort to ban Muslims from the country, a policy he embraced during his 2016 presidential campaign. Though he never instituted an outright ban, Trump imposed restrictions on a slew of Muslim-majority countries, describing them as security risks. Democrats said the effort was, in practice, an effort to implement Trump’s proposed Muslim ban and cloak it […]

Trump has assailed Stone’s prosecution as politically motivated, even though the Justice Department repeatedly defended it and Attorney General William Barr called it “righteous.” Democrats described Stone’s pardon as an unprecedented abuse intended to reward a close ally of the president for frustrating the efforts of investigators looking at Trump’s knowledge of a Russian interference effort that damaged his 2016 opponent, former Secretary of State Hillary […]

“Given the seriousness and specificity of these threats, as members of congressional leadership and the congressional intelligence committees we believe it is imperative that the FBI provide a classified defensive briefing to all Members of Congress and that the briefing draw on all-source intelligence information and analysis, consistent with due regard for the protection of sensitive intelligence sources and methods,” they continued. The FBI acknowledged receiving […]

The confrontations in Portland are generating national scrutiny as the state’s governor and Portland’s mayor have asked the federal agents to leave — and been denied. “What they are doing is sharply escalating the situation,” Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union. “Their presence here is actually leading to more violence and more vandalism. And it’s not helping the situation at […]

A source familiar with the exchange confirmed that McCarthy and Stefanik were among a group of GOP lawmakers who shared a ride on Air Force One in late May, as Trump traveled to observe the launch of a SpaceX rocket in Florida. When Trump joined lawmakers, the subject of Stone arose. According to the source, Trump revealed quickly that he intended to extend clemency to Stone, […]

The letter, which is also signed by Sens. Bernie Sanders, Amy Klobuchar, Kamala Harris, Cory Booker and others, asks for the documents by July 17. The request for access to Trump’s PDB is the latest salvo in Congress’ effort to shine a light on Trump’s handling of relations with Russia. Trump allies have refused to echo Trump’s claim that the Russian bounty story is a “hoax” […]

Duckworth’s letter is the latest in Democrats’ pressure campaign to unearth more details about the Trump administration’s response to the intelligence that the GRU, Russia’s military intelligence unit, mounted a proxy effort to kill American troops. Trump has repeatedly called the allegations a “hoax” meant to damage him, even as intelligence agencies have affirmed that there is at a minimum conflicting information about it. Though various […]

Now as lawmakers of both parties demand a similar level of detail from Trump, the GOP Benghazi report presents a roadmap of sorts. It’s also a potent talking point for Congress if the White House blocks oversight efforts. Capitol Hill Democrats, in particular, are demanding to know whether Trump received intelligence indicating Russia paid Taliban-linked militants to assassinate American servicemembers. Trump has denied ever being briefed […]

But such extreme measures have fallen out of favor over the years, as Congress has relied instead primarily on litigation to enforce its subpoenas and officials across government have acknowledged the unappetizing prospect of using force to impose its will. It’s even trickier when applied to a coequal branch of government, which may have its own privileges and protections to assert. But calls for reviving inherent […]

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. | Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images Speaker Nancy Pelosi is demanding that the Trump administration brief all House members on the allegations that Russians have been paying Afghan militants to assassinate U.S. soldiers, pointing to recent news reports and conflicting statements by President Donald Trump on the matter. The New York Times reported on the intelligence assessment, which indicated that senior White […]

Three previous attempts to bring him in were aborted. The first, in spring 2019, was canceled after Barr refused to submit to questioning from committee staff, in the weeks after he released the report of special counsel Robert Mueller. The second occurred in March, when the coronavirus crisis led the House to call off most committee proceedings. The hearing was rescheduled for early June, but Barr […]

Former adviser to President Donald Trump, Roger Stone. | Mark Wilson/Getty Images A prosecutor who withdrew from the Roger Stone case after Justice Department leaders intervened to recommend a lighter sentence intends to testify before Congress that he and his colleagues were repeatedly pressured to cut Stone “a break,” and were told that it was because of his relationship with President Donald Trump. “What I heard […]

State Department aides have pushed back on suggestions that Pompeo or Bulatao acted improperly, alleging that Linick himself was the one acting improperly. Pompeo recently told reporters Linick was a “bad actor” in the department and wasn’t adequately fulfilling the role of inspector general. State Department officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Bulatao‘s planned appearance before the House committee. Steve Linick. […]

Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.), the No. 3 House Democrat, told CNN Thursday morning that the House “ought to consider” subpoenaing Bolton to hear his allegations under oath. “I really believe that we may need to get to the bottom of this. Not so much for impeachment. I don’t care about impeachment,” Clyburn said. “It’s for preserving this electoral process that we have, because this president […]

“We are writing to bring to your attention an issue that could impact the ability of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC) and federal Inspectors General to provide effective oversight of over $1 trillion in pandemic-related funds, as well as transparency to the public about how those monies are being spent,” Horowitz and Westbrooks wrote. At issue is the structure of the CARES Act, which split […]

“On June 9, 2020, members of DC National Guard who responded to the protests tested positive for COVID-19, according to military representatives, raising concerns about BOP and other personnel who responded to the protests,” the lawmakers write in the letter addresses to Bureau of Prisons Director Michael Carvajal. They’re asking for details by June 17 about which facilities sent officers to the protest responses in Washington […]

The GOP report, based on nearly 60 witness interviews, produced no evidence that Trump or his associates conspired with Russians during the Kremlin’s 2016 interference. The panel also raised questions about the intelligence “tradecraft” used by the Obama administration to determine that Russia favored Trump to win, though that conclusion has since been reaffirmed by special counsel Robert Muller and the GOP-led Senate Intelligence Committee. “The […]