Global Courant
In addition, some conservatives who believe the agencies are targeting Republicans are eager to cut law firm budgets. Then there’s the protracted battle in Congress over a soon-to-expire no-warrant surveillance program that has led to bipartisan allegations of abuse by the FBI.
representative Steve Womack (R-Ark.), a leadership ally, predicted that conservative colleagues on the House Judiciary Committee’s politicization panel and their allies would take their fight against the FBI and DOJ to the chamber. Those Republicans, he said, “believe that the best way to send a message is to use the power of the wallet.”
Whether they prevail in the form of austerity, impeachment or other measures remains to be seen. Conservative efforts could backfire, instead exposing tensions with centrist and more established Republicans who embrace the party’s pro-law enforcement roots — the prevailing sentiment within the GOP before Trump came along.
The fault lines emerged in recent weeks at closed-door House GOP spending meetings as some lawmakers warned others to think twice about how they use spending bills to target specific agencies. In one session, conservative Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) said he personally urged his colleagues to “be careful” about how they talk about Justice Department funding, adding, “I’m not in favor of scrapping DOJ.”
Representative Ken Buck said he personally urged his colleagues to “be careful” about how they talk about Justice Department funding, adding, “I’m not in favor of scrapping DOJ.” | Francis Chung/POLITICO
The GOP’s outward frustrations with FBI and DOJ — and the conference’s internal fear of punishing them — will come out sharply ahead of a series of high-profile hearings beginning in July. Wray will appear before the Judiciary Committee days after the House returns from the July 4 recess, as first reported by POLITICO, while Garland will testify in September.
Their testimony is part of routine supervisory hearings. But it coincides with GOP chairmen ramping up a leadership-blessed FBI and DOJ investigation that has sparked renewed chatter about impeaching Garland. The Republican investigation — which spans the Oversight, Judiciary and Ways and Means Committees — revolves around whistleblower claims that DOJ and a US law firm obstructed the Hunter Biden investigation.
The threat of impeachment has drawn fierce opposition from the White House and Congressional Democrats. They say the Republicans are waging a political vendetta that falls short of the demands of a high crime or misdemeanor. White House spokesman Ian Sams argued that House Republicans are “proving they don’t have a positive agenda” and are “performing more partisan stunts designed only to attract the attention of the far right.”
A cabinet official has not been impeached since 1876. Republicans would need almost unanimity to target Garland given their five-seat majority. So for now, they’re focusing most of their efforts on investigations.
representatives. James Komer (R-Ky.), Jim Jordan (R Ohio) and Jason Smith (R-Mo.) — who oversees the three committees leading the investigation — requested transcribed interviews with DOJ, FBI and IRS officials involved in the Hunter Biden investigation. That includes bringing in US Attorney David Weiss, who oversaw the years-long federal investigation into the president’s son. If Weiss and others disobey, the Republicans are prepared to use subpoenas.
At the heart of the GOP effort is the question of Weiss’s power over the Hunter Biden investigation and whether any restrictions were imposed on the IRS. Weiss has said he had “ultimate authority” — a claim disputed by the whistleblower — and the ability to apply for “special attorney” status. Garland has also stressed Weiss’s autonomy, saying he supports Weiss testifying in the House.
Representatives James Comer (left), Jim Jordan (right) and Jason Smith requested transcribed interviews with DOJ, FBI and IRS officials involved in the Hunter Biden investigation. | Andrew Harnik/AP Photo
“Some have chosen to attack the integrity of the Justice Department, its subdivisions and its employees by claiming that we do not treat like cases alike. … Nothing could be further from the truth,” said Garland at a recent press conference.
Those investigations will likely extend into the fall, as Republicans have not set a firm timeline for the impeachment inquiry. The House will be in Washington for just a few weeks for a break until September 12, when they will be consumed with trying to avoid a government shutdown.
Lawmakers expect the debate to stretch into the holiday season, bringing them to another year-end deadline: reauthorizing a supervisory authority known as Section 702 used by the FBI.
Both legislative moves have significant implications for the FBI and DOJ. They also threaten to splinter the GOP.
A bipartisan group of members of the Intelligence Committee is preparing to push through changes to Section 702 and the broader law under which it is housed, which is intended to target individuals abroad but has come under scrutiny because it also restricts communications from Americans flooded.
FBI and DOJ have made some internal changes to improve oversight compliance, but any congressional reauthorization is expected to add more audits. Lawmakers are looking at penalties for individuals who lie to the foreign intelligence oversight court, for example, as well as mandatory transcripts for court hearings and a rule that keeps oversight applications in the hands of the same judges who initially handled them.
Those lawmakers have also mandated that law enforcement agencies at a minimum notify U.S. citizens who are subject to searches based on data the program collects because they are believed to be the potential victims of a crime or campaign of foreign influence.
FBI GOP critics want to do even more. They recognize that Congress won’t fully embrace ignoring oversight authority, but they’ve proposed not allowing the FBI to search data collected under the program or issue a warrant for a to demand such a search.
Intelligence officials and their congressional allies in both parties say such a move would effectively neuter the entire program, with implications for national security.
Some Republicans are also looking at using state funding bills and other legislation to guard against oversight violations stemming from years of Trump-focused investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
GOP lawmakers have already taken a penalty step in the first draft of their spending plans: withholding more money for a new FBI headquarters. Conservatives could go further on the House floor by trying to reclaim previously approved money for the FBI building. And Rep. Dan Bishop (RN.C.) said he talks to colleagues about trying to drastically restructure the FBI beyond spending bills.
The biggest piece of evidence for conservatives’ long-running pledge to rein in law enforcement is the House GOP spending bill, which includes the DOJ budget and the bulk of FBI-related funding. Republicans have discussed multiple ideas for that bill, including salary cuts for FBI and DOJ leaders and linking agency funding to responses when Congress submits oversight requests.
representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) has also pledged to make perhaps the most high-profile recording of them all: impeach Special Counsel Jack Smith, who indicted Trump over his handling of classified documents.
