Federal courts have held that the "legal duty" to respond to Congressional subpoenas extends to the President's "senior-level aides" and that the failure to comply violates the separation of powers principles in the Constitution.13 As one court recently explained:
[W]hen a committee of Congress seeks testimony and records by issuing a valid subpoena in the context of a duly authorized investigation, it has the Constitution's blessing, and ultimately, it is acting not in its own interest, but for the benefit of the People of the United States. If there is fraud or abuse or waste or corruption in the federal government, it is the constitutional duty of Congress to find the facts and, as necessary, take corrective action. Conducting investigations is the means that Congress uses to carry out that constitutional obligation. Thus, blatant defiance of Congress' centuries-old power to compel the performance of witnesses is not an abstract injury, nor is it a mere banal insult to our democracy. It is an affront to the mechanism for curbing abuses of power that the Framers carefully crafted for our protection, and, thereby, recalcitrant witnesses actually undermine the broader interests of the People of the United States.14
Laws Passed by Congress
Congress has enacted statutes to support its power to investigate and oversee the Executive Branch. These laws impose criminal and other penalties on those who fail to comply with inquiries from Congress or block others from doing so, and they reflect the broader Constitutional requirement to cooperate with Congressional investigations. For example:
- Obstructing Congress: Obstructing a Congressional investigation is a crime punishable by up to five years in prison. An individual is guilty of obstruction if he or she "corruptly, or by threats or force, or by any threatening letter or communication influences, obstructs, or impedes or endeavors to influence, obstruct, or impede" the "due and proper exercise of the power of inquiry under which any inquiry or investigation is being had by either House, or any committee of either House."15
- Concealing Material Facts: Concealing information from Congress is also punishable by up to five years in prison. This prohibition applies to anyone who "falsifies, conceals, or covers up" a "material fact" in connection with "any investigation or review, conducted pursuant to the authority of any committee, subcommittee, commission or office of the Congress, consistent with applicable rules of the House or Senate."16
- Intimidating and Harassing Witnesses: Intimidating witnesses in a Congressional investigation is a crime punishable by up to twenty years in prison. This statute applies to anyone who "knowingly uses intimidation, threatens, or corruptly persuades another person, or attempts to do so, or engages in misleading conduct toward another person," with the intent to "influence, delay, or prevent the testimony of any person in an official proceeding."17 An individual who "intentionally harasses another person and thereby hinders, delays, prevents, or dissuades" a person from "attending or testifying in an official proceeding" is also guilty of a crime punishable by fines and up to three years in prison.18
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