House Democrats Plan Subpoenas for Kushner, Sessions, Rosenstein

(Bloomberg) -- The House Judiciary Committee plans to vote Thursday to authorize subpoenas to Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, as well as former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and nine other individuals.

At the same meeting, the committee plans to authorized subpoenas to the Trump administration on its separation of migrant children from their families and “discussions about or offers of presidential pardons to Department of Homeland Security officials or employees.”

“For months, we have held hearings and sent letters to the agencies of jurisdiction involved with implementing a catastrophic and inhumane family separation policy at the Southern border,” said Nadler in a statement.

The White House has ordered current and former officials to refuse to testify before Congress or to limit their testimony, even under subpoena, frustrating efforts to obtain information in Trump administration-related House committee inquiries. Some Democrats have complained that subpoenas are being ignored without any enforcement consequences.

The subpoenas to Kushner, Sessions and Rosenstein, announced Tuesday by Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, are related to to the panel’s investigation into alleged instances of obstruction of justice by President Donald Trump outlined in former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russian election interference.

The committee’s action Thursday will come six days before Mueller is scheduled to testify publicly before the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees.

‘Unimpressive, Unproductive’

Representative Doug Collins of Georgia, the Judiciary panel’s top Republican, criticized the planned subpoenas, saying the Democrats’ “latest effort to relitigate the special counsel’s investigation remains unimpressive and unproductive.”

Other individuals who the committee said will be targeted with subpoenas include Assistant Attorney General Joseph Hunt, former White House Deputy Chief of staff Rick Dearborn, former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn.

Nadler, a New York Democrat, said his panel will “move forward with our efforts to request information from critical witnesses as part of our ongoing investigation into obstruction, corruption and abuse of power by the President and his associates.”

“As always, I remain open to reaching a reasonable accommodation and will not issue subpoenas if the information we are seeking is voluntarily provided,” Nadler said. “We will get answers one way or the other.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Billy House in Washington at bhouse5@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Kevin Whitelaw at kwhitelaw@bloomberg.net, Anna Edgerton, Larry Liebert

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