House panel could subpoena Kushner, Sessions
WASHINGTON — The House Judiciary Committee is moving to authorize subpoenas for several people tied to special counsel Robert Mueller’s report, including President Donald Trump’s son in law, Jared Kushner, and former Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
The resolution coming up for a vote Thursday would authorize subpoenas for documents and testimony from 12 people in all, also including former national security adviser Michael Flynn, former White House chief of staff John Kelly and former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
Lawmakers will also be voting on subpoenas for documents and testimony on the Trump administration’s handling of immigration, including the abandoned “zero tolerance” approach of separating migrant families at the southern border. The resolution authorizes an investigation into whether there have been any discussions of Trump offering pardons to Homeland Security officials who work on immigration issues.
Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., will make the final decision about issuing the subpoenas. He said they can be avoided if the information is provided voluntarily.
The Judiciary panel is investigating whether Trump obstructed justice after Mueller’s report detailed several episodes in which Trump tried to influence his investigation. Mueller said he could not exonerate Trump on obstruction and indicated in a May news conference that it was up to Congress to decide what to do with his findings. Mueller is scheduled to testify to Congress next week.
Democrats have had little luck so far in their attempts to investigate beyond what Mueller detailed in his 448page report, as the White House has blocked several witnesses from answering questions. It’s unclear if they would have better luck with the latest group of witnesses, as most worked for the White House or the administration.
Still, Democrats say they will call in the witnesses as they attempt to keep public attention on Mueller’s report. And Nadler has said the panel is preparing a lawsuit to challenge the efforts to block testimony.
Among the other subpoena targets are Corey Lewandowski, Trump’s former campaign manager; Jody Hunt, Sessions’ former chief of staff, and former White House aides Rob Porter and Rick Dearborn.
Three other names on the list are related to the National Enquirer’s efforts to help kill potentially embarrassing stories about Trump over the years by paying hush money in a practice known as “catch-and-kill.” Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen discussed the practice in testimony before the House Oversight and Reform Committee earlier this year.
They include David Pecker, the chief executive of the National Enquirer’s parent company and a longtime Trump ally; Dylan Howard, who Cohen said was personally involved in coordinating payments to two women who said they had affairs with Trump; and Keith Davidson, an attorney who initially represented the women and negotiated their payments.
Republicans have fought the Democratic efforts to investigate obstruction, saying the issue should be laid to rest after the Mueller report.
“Today’s latest effort to relitigate the special counsel’s investigation remains unimpressive and unproductive,” said the top Republican on the Judiciary panel, Georgia Rep. Doug Collins. “Mr. Mueller’s team issued more than 2,800 subpoenas before concluding that no Americans conspired with Russia. Even if Chairman Nadler still believes subpoenas are conversation starters, it’s hard to imagine this handful of subpoenas will do anything but reinforce the principal conclusions we’ve been able to read about for months.”
On immigration, Democratic lawmakers have sought answers from the administration since more than 2,700 children were separated from their parents at the border last year as the result of the zero tolerance immigration policy pursued by Sessions. Under the policy, the administration criminally prosecuted anyone caught crossing the border illegally.
There was renewed outrage in recent weeks after squalid conditions were reported at border facilities where scores of children are detained well beyond the 72-hour limit by which they are to be transferred to more suitable facilities. A DHS inspector general’s report found the vast overcrowding was leading to dangerous and unhealthy conditions for migrant children and families.