The Justice Department has agreed to hand over counterintelligence findings from the Special Counsel Office to comply with a subpoena from House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff after he had schedule a vote for unspecified “enforcement action” against the Justice Department. That vote has been cancelled— speaking with reporters, Schiff said, “[This] does not obviate the need for the subpoena.” He added: “We will keep that in force until we get all the documents we are seeking.”
The House Intelligence Committee chairman said Wednesday that the Justice Department had agreed to begin honoring a subpoena for intelligence materials related to the special counsel’s investigation — a hint of easing tensions between the Trump administration and Congress.
The department could begin handing over counterintelligence and foreign intelligence related documents as soon as this week, the chairman, Representative Adam B. Schiff, Democrat of California, said Wednesday morning. The action prompted him to cancel a committee meeting scheduled for later in the day at which Democrats had planned to vote on an unspecified “enforcement action” to increase pressure on the department.
Mr. Schiff’s subpoena is broad, encompassing Robert S. Mueller III’s full report, its underlying evidence and the intelligence-related materials his investigation produced. But in an effort to find an initial compromise, Mr. Schiff said he would accept documents in 12 narrower categories, though he has not specified publicly what they are.
Speaking with reporters a short time later, he said the initial compliance “does not obviate the need for the subpoena.” He added: “We will keep that in force until we get all the documents we are seeking.”
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But the department has stated that it would comply in this way only if the committee did not proceed with the previously scheduled vote on its enforcement action.
“The proposal set forth above represents a good-faith effort and extraordinary accommodation of the committee’s request for information by proposing a realistic process to provide the committee with information pertaining to counterintelligence and foreign-intelligence activities related to the special counsel’s investigation,” Stephen E. Boyd, an assistant attorney general, wrote in the Tuesday letter.
The department said it was also willing to allow all members of the Intelligence Committee to view a limited redacted version of the first volume of Mr. Mueller’s report. It had previously allowed only a handful of lawmakers in both the House and Senate to see those materials.
The House Intelligence Committee is entitled to see everything. This game of “keep away” is childish and will only drag this process out.
