equivalent to or exceeded those afforded to Presidents Nixon and Clinton.
II.Background: Conduct of the House's Inquiry and Privileges Afforded to President Trump
In early 2019, the Judiciary Committee began investigating potential abuses of office by President Trump, including obstruction of law enforcement investigations relating to Russia's interference in the 2016 United States Presidential election.[1] That investigation, which came to include consideration of whether to recommend articles of impeachment, was conducted in full public view and through public hearings. To the extent the Committee reviewed or obtained materials that it did not make available to the public, it did so in order to accommodate specific requests by the Executive Branch. The Committee also obtained responses to written questions from one fact witness and made those responses available to the public;[2] and it conducted one closed-door transcribed interview of a fact witness during which White House attorneys were present, then released a transcript of the interview the following day.[3] During this period, HPSCI also continued to investigate foreign intelligence and counterintelligence risks arising from efforts by Russia and other foreign powers to influence the United States political process during and since the 2016 election.[4]
Beginning in the spring and summer of 2019, evidence came to light that President Trump and his associates might have been seeking the assistance of another foreign government, Ukraine, to influence the upcoming 2020 election.[5] On September 9, 2019, the Investigating Committees announced they were launching a joint investigation and requested documents and records from the White House and the Department of State. In parallel, evidence emerged that the President may have attempted to cover up his actions and prevent the transmission of information to which HPSCI was entitled by law.[6] Given the gravity of these allegations and the immediacy of the threat to the next
- ↑ 3 See, e.g., Resolution Recommending that the House of Representatives Find William P. Barr, Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice, in Contempt of Congress for Refusal to Comply with a Subpoena Duly Issued by the Committee on the Judiciary, H. Rep. No. 116-105, at 13 (June 6, 2019).
- ↑ See Responses by Ann Donaldson to Questions from the Committee on the Judiciary of the U.S. House of Representatives (July 5, 2019).
- ↑ See Interview of Hope Hicks Before the H. Comm. on the Judiciary, 116th Cong. (June 19, 2019).
- ↑ See App. of the Comm. on the Judiciary at 14 n.8, In re App. of the Comm. on the Judiciary, U.S. House of Reps., for an Order Authorizing the Release of Certain Grand Jury Materials,—F. Supp. 3d —, 2019 WL 5485221 (D.D.C. Oct. 25, 2019) (hereinafter "In re Rule 6(e) Application"), appeal pending, No. 19-5288 (D.C. Cir.). In addition, in August 2019, Chairman Nadler requested that the chairs of five other committees investigating potential misconduct by President Trump share any materials with the Judiciary Committee that would be relevant to its consideration of impeachment. Letter from Jerrold Nadler, Chairman, H. Comm. on the Judiciary, to Adam Schiff, Chairman, H. Perm. Select Comm. on Intelligence, Maxine Waters, Chairwoman, H. Comm. on Financial Services, Elijah E. Cummings, Chairman, H. Comm. on Oversight and Reform, and Eliot L. Engel, Chairman, H. Comm. on Foreign Affairs (Aug. 22, 2019).
- ↑ See Kenneth P. Vogel, Rudy Giuliani Plans Ukraine Trip to Push for Inquiries That Could Help Trump, N.Y. Times, May 9, 2019.
- ↑ See, e.g., Letter from Adam B. Schiff, Chairman, H. Perm. Select Comm. on Intelligence, to Joseph Maguire, Acting Dir. of Nat'l Intelligence (Sept. 10, 2019).
6
