House GOPer Subpoenas DOJ For Docs On Page Surveillance, Clinton Probe

UNITED STATES - JANUARY 18: Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., walks through the Capitol on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018. (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)
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In congressional Republicans’ latest attempt to undermine the Russia investigation, House Judiciary Chair Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) on Thursday evening issued a subpoena to the Justice Department demanding documents on the surveillance of former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page, the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s email server and the decision to fire Andrew McCabe from the FBI.

As Mueller’s investigation into potential ties between President Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia intensifies, Republicans in Congress have been increasingly critical of the Justice Department and FBI’s investigative process and accused investigators of operating with bias against Trump. On Thursday, Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee voted to release their partisan report on Russian meddling, which questions part of the intelligence community’s assessment on Russian election interference.

The subpoena issued by Goodlatte on Thursday followed two previous requests to the Justice Department. Last year, Goodlatte and House Oversight Committee Chair Trey Gowdy (R-SC) requested documents on the Hillary Clinton email investigation. At the time, the two chairmen wanted to know why the FBI made announcements about the Clinton probe but not the investigation into the Trump campaign, and they wanted more information on the decision not to charge Clinton. Goodlatte said that he was also asking for documents on McCabe’s firing since his ouster was ostensibly linked to his actions during the Clinton investigation.

In February, Goodlatte wrote that he was concerned about “potential abuses” of the surveillance process and asked for documents on requests to surveil Trump associates.

In addition to conducting his own investigation of the DOJ’s actions in 2016, Goodlatte has called for Attorney General Jeff Sessions to appoint a second special counsel to investigate the matter.

“There is evidence of bias, trending toward animus, among those charged with investigating serious cases. There is evidence political opposition research was used in court filings. There is evidence this political opposition research was neither vetted before it was used nor fully revealed to the relevant tribunal,” he wrote in a letter with Gowdy earlier in March.

Read Goodlatte’s Thursday letter and subpoena:

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