Embattled acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker will testify before Congress on Feb. 8, setting up dual blockbuster hearings that week as House Democrats launch their much-awaited oversight into Donald Trump’s presidency.
The House Judiciary Committee announced Tuesday that Whitaker will appear one day after Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, testifies before the House Oversight Committee. The two hearings, both made-for-TV moments, will almost certainly create a headache for the president as special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into his 2016 presidential campaign enters its 20th month.
Oversight Democrats are expected to ask Cohen about Trump’s campaign-time payments to women alleging extramarital affairs with the president as well as his financial dealings with Russia. Judiciary Democrats will press Whitaker, once a fervent critic of special counsel Robert Mueller, about why he ignored ethics recommendations to recuse himself from the Russia probe.
Democrats have long suspected that Trump planted Whitaker at the department as a spy, someone delegated to undercutting the Mueller probe. They’ll grill him on his interactions with Mueller as well as any information he passed on to Trump allies.
“Per our practice in hearings of this nature, the Committee will expect you to provide direct answers to questions asked by members of both parties,” Nadler said in a Tuesday letter to Whitaker announcing the news. “If you plan to invoke executive privilege in an attempt to avoid answering any particular question, I ask that you consult with the White House well in advance of the hearing.”
Whitaker’s hearing, which will occur at 9:30 a.m. that morning, may be the first with a sitting administration official since Democrats took over the House on Jan. 3. Republicans have argued that Whitaker need not appear since his replacement, William Barr, will likely be confirmed by the Senate by then.
Depending on Barr’s confirmation date, Whitaker may be former acting attorney general at the time he testifies.
House Democrats had hoped to haul Whitaker in this January. But the shutdown, combined with what Democrats view as Justice Department stonewalling, delayed that goal.
The acting attorney general had promised Democrats last fall to answer questions once they took control of the House. But in recent days, top Justice officials have cited the shutdown and a busy schedule for Whitaker as a reason he cannot commit to a date.
Nadler, however, threatened to subpoena Whitaker last week, pushing talks along and settling ultimately on Feb. 8.
Judiciary sources say Whitaker will appear even if the government is still shutdown. Justice officials had tried to argue that Whitaker could not testify while agencies were shuttered. But Nadler cited DOJ rules from the 1990s actually stating the contrary.
Whitaker’s hearing comes as Nadler’s panel is gearing up investigations on policy fonts as well, particularly immigration. On Monday, the committee asked Homeland Security, Justice and Health and Human Services departments to preserve all documents related to Trump’s separation of immigrant families at the border last summer.
Nadler and more than 180 additional Democratic cosponsors also introduced the “Keeping Families Together Act of 2019,” legislation barring Trump officials from separating children from their parents.
“As this new Congress begins, the House Judiciary Committee will make good on its promise to the American people to hold the Trump Administration accountable for the abhorrent family separation policy that ripped children from the arms of their parents,” Nadler said. “These document requests, many of them sought for months, are just the start. We have already put the relevant agencies on notice that in the coming weeks we will schedule hearings in order to finally hold the Administration accountable for its policies and conduct.
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/01/15/acting-attorney-general-whitaker-testify-congress-1102221