dChan
Anonymous ID: a338b4 Jan. 7, 2019, 2:29 p.m. No.4651035   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>1071 >>1113 >>1122 >>1216

House Republicans ask US attorney for update on DOJ review of FBI’s Clinton, Russia investigations

 

House Republicans are demanding that the Justice Department update them on the ongoing review of the FBI’s actions during its investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server, as well as its investigation into Russian election interference and the Trump campaign. GOP Reps. Doug Collins of Georgia and Jim Jordan of Ohio, the new ranking members of the House Judiciary and House Oversight committees, respectively, are asking U.S. Attorney John Huber to answer a handful of questions by Jan. 21.

 

Huber was appointed by former Attorney General Jeff Sessions in March 2018 to look into GOP claims of FBI misconduct, and last week, acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker said the investigation is ongoing. The Republican lawmakers had asked for a second special counsel, but settled with the appointment of Huber. With Democrats now in control of the lower chamber, the GOP lawmakers are no longer able to leverage subpoena power for the first time in eight years. Whitaker told former Attorney General Ed Meese during a breakfast meeting in Washington earlier this month that Huber is continuing his investigation, but did not give Meese any other details of his work or his findings, the Associated Press and CNN reported. The Justice Department has provided no public updates on Huber’s work in nearly a year.

 

In their Monday letter to Huber, Collins and Jordan requested the total number of witnesses that have been interviewed, including their names, and the number of people left to interview. Collins and Jordan, who are joined by Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., in their letter, also want to know the total number, as well as substance and format, of documents reviewed and how many surveillance warrant applications have been reviewed. They also want to know if Huber has coordinated with the Justice Department inspector general during his investigation. The Justice Department’s IG has already investigated and released a report on how the Clinton probe was handled by the department and FBI and is already also reviewing the Russia investigation.

 

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/house-republicans-ask-us-attorney-for-update-on-doj-review-of-fbis-clinton-russia-investigations

 

Letter:

https://republicans-oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/2019-01-07-JDJ-DC-MM-to-Huber-re-DOJ-investigation-due-1-21.pdf?utm_source=House+Judiciary+Committee+Press+Releases&utm_campaign=da271be239-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_01_07_04_54&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_df41eba8fd-da271be239-115576205

Anonymous ID: a338b4 Jan. 7, 2019, 2:37 p.m. No.4651156   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>1185 >>1216

Chuck Schumer moves to block pro-Israel bill to protest shutdown

 

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and other Senate Democratic leaders are mounting an effort to block a pro-Israel bill on Tuesday in order to protest the ongoing partial government shutdown, which is now in its third week. The Senate late Tuesday will hold a procedural vote on a bill that supports Israel by allowing state and local governments to divest from entities that boycott, divest from, or sanction Israel because of its occupation of the West Bank.

 

The provision is part of legislation numbered “S.1” that was to be the very first bill senators debate in the 116th Congress. In addition to the BDS language, it includes several Middle East security provisions such as new authorities for sanctioning Bashar Assad's regime in Syria and reauthorization of security assistance to Israel.

 

But Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., a top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, will vote Tuesday against moving to debate the BDS bill, even though they cosponsored the bill when was introduced in 2017. Democrats say said their “no” votes are a response to the current partial government shutdown. They instead want Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to take up spending legislation passed by the House last week that would reopen nine agencies and departments that have been closed since Dec. 23. “Schumer has notified the Democratic caucus that he will vote against proceeding to S.1 because Senate Republicans should instead bring to the floor the House-passed bills to reopen the government,” a senior Democratic aide told the Washington Examiner.

 

When Rubio introduced the BDS legislation in 2017, it won the support of 15 Democrats who signed on a sponsors. Republicans need just seven Democrats to beat back a filibuster, but Cardin and Schumer are working to ensure Democrats block the bill. “Sen. Cardin will vote against cloture on S.1 and he is encouraging other senators to do the same,” Cardin spokeswoman Sue Walitsky told the Washington Examiner. “He believes the Senate should not proceed to other business until after the government reopens.”

 

The move has angered Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., the lead sponsor of the BDS provision and the overarching legislation. Rubio tweeted Monday that the true cause of the sudden Democratic opposition is not the current shutdown fight but rather a growing internal divide about the BDS movement and support for Israel. “A huge argument broke out at Senate Dem meeting last week over BDS. A significant # of Senate Democrats now support #BDS & Dem leaders want to avoid a floor vote that reveals that,” Rubio tweeted. The shutdown is not the reason Senate Democrats don’t want to move to Middle East Security Bill.

 

Just last week, two new lawmakers joined the House Democratic caucus who back the BDS movement against Israel. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., have both spoken in support of the BDS movement, which is a pro-Arab, international boycott movement against Israel’s occupation of the West Bank. The American Civil Liberties Union and dozens of grassroots organizations have also been pressuring Senate Democrats to block the measure. “This type of boycott participation is core political expression and association lying at the heart of the First Amendment,” ACLU National Political Director Faiz Shakir and Legislative Counsel Manar Waheed wrote to senators.