House Intelligence Committee Subpoenas FBI, DOJ
The House Intelligence Committee has issued subpoenas requesting that the FBI and Department of Justice provide documents related to an unverified dossier about President Donald Trump. The latest subpoenas reportedly call on FBI Director Christopher Wray and Attorney General Jeff Sessions to appear before the House panel.
The House Intelligence Committee is one of several congressional committees investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Robert Mueller, a Justice Department special counsel, is overseeing a separate FBI investigation into the matter. Divisions between the congressional investigators and those with the Justice Department have been rising, CNN reported Tuesday morning, and the subpoenas seem to provide further indication of that tension.
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On August 24, the committee issued two identical subpoenas to the FBI and Justice Department, the Washington Examiner reported Tuesday evening, citing an interview with Congressman Trey Gowdy, a committee member. The committee had given the bureau and department until September 1 to provide the information, the report said. When the committee did not receive the information by the deadline, it reportedly extended that deadline to September 14.
"We got nothing," Gowdy, a Republican, told the Washington Examiner. "The witnesses have not been produced and the documents have not been produced."
On Tuesday, the committee issued two new subpoenas, one for FBI Director Christopher Wray and one for Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the Washington Examiner reported. The new subpoenas call on the officials to appear before the committee and explain why they did not comply with the previous requests, the report said.
Christopher Steele, a former British spy, wrote the intelligence dossier, about Trump and his alleged ties to Russia. Republican lawmakers have shown interest in the dossier, and some have alleged that it possibly began as an opposition research project against Trump. Buzzfeed published its contents in January.
Spokespeople for the FBI and Justice Department were not immediately available to comment on the subpoenas Tuesday evening.
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