Rep. Russell Fry, R-S.C., told Newsmax Wednesday that, in seeking information on the Justice Department's attempts to spy on members of Congress, the House Judiciary Committee has to "wield a subpoena" to get Attorney General Merrick Garland to cooperate.
During an appearance on Newsmax's "Carl Higbie FRONTLINE," Fry, who is a member of the Judiciary Committee, said panel Republicans "hope" Garland complies with the order to testify.
"At this point, they have defied the inquiry," Fry said of the DOJ. "We have asked for information — politely, of course. That's kind of the first step is, Hey, what's going on here? Send us what you have. They have not done that, and so the chairman is forced to issue a subpoena to the Department of Justice on something that is a very clear and disturbing violation of our separation of powers."
In addition to issuing Garland a subpoena Tuesday, Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, sent the attorney general a letter in which he stated his department had not complied with the panel's previous requests for information about attempts to surveil congressional lawmakers.
"Because the Department has not complied in full with our requests, we cannot independently determine whether the Department sought to alleviate the heightened separation-of-powers sensitivities involved or whether the Department first sought the information through other means before resorting to legal process," Jordan wrote.
"The Committee also has concerns that aspects of the Department's investigation may have been a pretext to justify piercing the Legislative Branch's deliberative process and improperly access data from Members and staff involved in conducting oversight of the Department," he added.
When asked if there had been any attempt to address the matter directly with Garland without resorting to the use of subpoenas, Fry chuckled slightly and said, "Oh, no. They don't do that."
"We've seen this time and time again, unfortunately, where you have to wield a subpoena," he said. "I mean, if you remember earlier this year, [FBI] Director [Christopher] Wray was minutes away from being held in contempt of Congress for not complying with a subpoena. And so, unfortunately, there's this kind of dance where they just want to wait you out. So Chairman Jordan's rightfully issued a subpoena, and we expect them to comply with it."
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Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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