On the 22nd of May 2019. the US Department of Justice Department (DOJ) and the House Intelligence Committee reached a deal over documents from the FBI’s special counsel Robert Mueller’s 3/22/2019 final report on its 22 months long Trump-Russia probe, after the prosecutors’ office said it’s willing to provide counter intelligence material to the congressional panel as long as it agrees not to take any retaliatory action against Attorney General William Barr.
The US House Intelligence Committee Democratic Party Chairman committee’s chairman, Rep. Adam Schiff of California, had issued a public warning that the committee would decide on an “enforcement action” against The Attorney General Barr after he refused to hand over an unredacted version of FBI’s Mueller’s final report.
This victory comes on the heels of another one where a federal district judge has recently ruled that President Trump’s accounting firm Mazars USA, must turn over to the Congressional oversight committee’s whatever financial records it subpoenaed.
See: Washington Post article: Judge rules against Trump in fight over president’s financial records
Then there’s been a leaked IRS memo published by the Washington Post where its legal department states that the Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin must turnover the subpoenaed 6 years of President Trump’s IRS tax return records by the House Ways and Means Committee, headed by the Democratic Chairman Rep. Richard Neal.
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“I’m relieved that our efforts in this direction have come to fruition. Justice is starting to triumph. Thanks to @JohnBonifaz, @ronfein, & @jedshug”
Update on 5/22/2019:
As per 5/22/2019 Axios report by Marisa Fernandez, New York’s state legislature passed a bill on Wednesday permitting tax officials to turn over President Trump’s state returns to any one of three congressional committees, the New York Times reports.”
“Why it matters: Trump has refused to comply with a congressional subpoena for his federal tax returns, which are likely to contain similar information to his state returns. If Gov. Andrew Cuomo signs the bill as expected, the move could ignite a heated battle between New York state and Trump’s legal team.”
“Put simply, the power of Congress to conduct investigations is inherent in the legislative process.”
— Judge Edgardo Ramos
On May 21, 2019, Laura Jarrett of CNN penned the following report, “First on CNN: Justice Department willing to hand over counterintelligence if Schiff backs off ‘enforcement action'”
Excerpts:
The Justice Department is trying to stave off an “enforcement action” against Attorney General William Barr this week, making a rare offer to have the House Intelligence Committee review materials from special counsel Robert Mueller’s report if House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff agrees to back down.
Link: First on CNN: Justice Department willing to hand over …
Gronda Morin 