House Democrats' have only just begun their impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, which as of now appears to center on two things: The president's self-admitted attempt to pressure the Ukrainian government into helping him dig up a conspiracy theory on former Vice President Joe Biden, and his administration's apparent violation of whistleblower laws to prevent someone in the intelligence community from alerting Congress.
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) is wasting no time. In a new letter to Attorney General William Barr, Schiff is demanding a huge trove of documents from the Justice Department, "as part of the House of Representatives' impeachment inquiry."
Schiff's request includes any documents from the Office of Legal Counsel or FBI relating to the whistleblower's complaint about the president, including any discussion of the complaint that may have taken place between DOJ officials and the office of acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire, intelligence community inspector general Michael Atkinson, and White House officials.
Schiff also demanded "any and all documents and information about DOJ involvement, analysis, review and participation relating to any previous whistleblower complaint under the Intelligence Community Whistleblower Protection Act of 1998 or its companion provisions found at 18 U.S.C. § 3033 et seq."
News: @RepAdamSchiff just demanded a tranche of documents from the Department of Justice, concerning withholding o… https://t.co/xTVuLOqhC2— Greg Sargent (@Greg Sargent) 1569417424.0
The move is the latest sign that House Democrats are prepared to step up their review of the White House and the Justice Department — and this time, with the power of impeachment behind them.
