Tag: House Judiciary Committee

Wray grilled on FBI’s handling of Jan. 6

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FBI Director Christopher Wray was largely on the defensive Thursday as lawmakers and Democrats in particular picked apart the bureau’s actions surrounding the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, as well as its approach to domestic extremists.

Wray’s appearance before the House Judiciary Committee follows a report from senators investigating widespread failures across a number of intelligence and law enforcement agencies ahead of the riot.

“The FBI’s inaction in the weeks leading up to Jan. 6 is simply baffling. It is hard to tell whether FBI Headquarters merely missed the evidence — which had been flagged by your field offices and was available online for all the world to see — or whether the bureau saw the intelligence, underestimated the threat and simply failed to act. Neither is acceptable. We need your help to get to the bottom of it,” Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) said. Continue reading.

Jim Jordan starts FBI hearing with a frenzied rant about Trump’s social media bans and the raid of Rudy Giuliani’s home

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Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) loudly pursued MAGA grievances during a House oversight hearing with FBI director Christopher Wray.

The Ohio Republican opened the House Judiciary Committee hearing with an extended rant against coronavirus restrictions, former president Donald Trump’s social media ban, a grassroots campaign to get Fox News removed from cable carriers, and the FBI raid of the ex-president’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani.

“Big tech censoring conservatives, the cancel culture mob attacking anyone who disagrees with them, deplatforming the sitting president of the United States, Democrats writing letters to the network carriers telling them to take certain news organizations off their platform,” Jordan said. “Freedom is under attack and, director, a lot of Americans think you’re part of the problem.” Continue reading.

Top Democrats call for DOJ watchdog to probe Barr over possible 2020 election influence

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Four House committee chairs are calling on the Justice Department watchdog to open an emergency investigation into whether Attorney General William Barr and other political appointees have improperly influenced the upcoming 2020 presidential election. 

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) and House Administration Committee Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) on Friday called on Department of Justice (DOJ) Inspector General Michael Horowitz to probe whether Barr’s public comments on ongoing investigations and other actions are a violation of the agency’s longstanding policy and federal law.

“Attorney General Barr has signaled repeatedly that he is likely to allow DOJ to take prosecutorial actions, make public disclosures, and even issue reports before the presidential election in November. Such actions clearly appear intended to benefit President Trump politically,” the top Democrats wrote to Horowitz. Continue reading.

House Judiciary Committee holds hearing on Criminal Justice Reform in the Judiciary

House DFL logoSAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA – The Minnesota House Judiciary Finance and Civil Law Division held a remote hearing to discuss issues surrounding Criminal Justice Reform and the Judiciary. The committee chair, Rep. John Lesch (DFL – Saint Paul), sees potential for numerous changes within the courts to better deliver justice and fairness.

“As part of our criminal justice reform work in Minnesota, we must recognize the courts play a significant role in whether or not folks have a real opportunity to turn their lives around, particularly when it comes to having a ladder out of poverty,” Rep. Lesch said. “When people can’t afford to pay a fine or fee for a minor traffic ticket, can’t afford to post bail, have their property unfairly forfeited, or can’t get an offense removed from their record when they’ve demonstrated they’ve turned things around, they find themselves working harder to dig out from a bigger hole. This results in a constant struggle to gain access to employment and housing, which are necessary to sustain themselves in our communities. Many of the ideas on the table are bipartisan in nature and I’ll remain committed to moving them forward. We must hold people who do bad things accountable, but justice for less than all can’t continue to be the status quo.”

The hearing predominantly focused on four subject areas: forfeiture reform, cash bail reform, court fines and fees reform, and record expungement. Support for the reforms discussed spans the political and ideological spectrum, with testimony coming from the likes of Julia Decker, policy director of ACLU-MN as well as from Jason Flohrs, state director of Minnesotans for Prosperity. Continue reading “House Judiciary Committee holds hearing on Criminal Justice Reform in the Judiciary”

Democrats seek to shame Barr over politics at the Justice Department

Washington Post logoDemocrats clashed with Attorney General William P. Barr on Tuesday at a congressional hearing marked by angry recriminations over racial justice protests in Portland, Ore., and around the country, as the nation’s top law enforcement official said additional agents were needed to subdue aggressive, violent crowds.

The hearing before the House Judiciary Committee was acrimonious from the outset, as liberal lawmakers accused the conservative attorney general of politicizing the Justice Department through his deployment of federal agents to U.S. cities, his involvement in high-profile prosecutions of people connected to President Trump, and his posture toward the upcoming presidential election.<

Lawmakers spent months seeking Barr’s testimony on a host of issues related to the Trump administration’s interactions with the Justice Department. With the attorney general finally seated at the witness table, Democrats mostly made speeches or talked over him as he attempted to answer their questions, seemingly squandering any chance of getting new information or an admission out of him. Continue reading.

Barr plans to mount a defiant defense of Trump in showdown with House Democrats

Washington Post logoAttorney General William P. Barr will tell the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday that President Trump has not inappropriately intervened in Justice Department business — even though Barr has more than once moved in criminal cases to help the president’s allies — and he will defend the administration’s response to civil unrest in the country, according to a copy of his opening statement.

Barr, according to the statement, will take a defiant posture as he testifies before the panel for the first time since Democrats took control of it, alleging that they have attempted to “discredit” him since he vowed to investigate the 2016 FBI probe of possible coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign, and the media has been unfair in covering unrest. He is expected to face critical questioning on his response to anti-police brutality protests across the nation, his controversial interventions in high-profile cases involving allies of Trump and many other matters.

According to a Democratic committee counsel, lawmakers will ask Barr about his role dispatching federal agents to respond to anti-police-brutality protests that have at times grown violent — first in D.C. and more recently, in Portland, Ore. Several Democratic leaders — including House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jerrold Nadler (N.Y.) — have asked the Justice Department and Homeland Security inspectors general to probe the federal government’s actions in those cities and raised questions about whether they were legal. Continue reading.

House Judiciary Democrats set to grill Attorney General Barr

After seeking his appearance since last year, the committee will have no shortage of questions and topics

Corrected, 5:30 p.m. | Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee have wanted to question Attorney General William Barr at an oversight hearing for more than a year, so they have a dizzying list of controversial topics for what promises to be a highly watched showdown Tuesday.

It will be Barr’s first public testimony before a committee that has some of President Donald Trump’s most outspoken critics, at a time when the nation’s focus increasingly turns to the presidential election less than 100 days away.

Until now, House Democrats have been increasingly frustrated in any effort to force Barr’s compliance with congressional oversight demands. The House already found Barr in contempt of Congress last year in connection with stonewalling oversight attempts. Continue reading.

Nadler: House Judiciary Committee will open investigation into Berman firing

The Hill logoHouse Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) announced Saturday that the committee will immediately open an investigation into the Trump administration’s decision to fire Manhattan U.S. attorney Geoff Berman. 

“The House Judiciary Committee will immediately open an investigation into this incident, as part of our broader investigation into Barr’s unacceptable politicization of the Department of Justice,” Nadler said in a statement.

“On Wednesday, the Committee will hear from two whistleblowers who will explain why Barr’s attempt to fire Mr. Berman is part of a larger, ongoing, and wholly unacceptable pattern of conduct. If the President removes Mr. Berman, then we will take additional steps to secure his testimony as well.” Continue reading.

Minnesota House Judiciary Committee holds its first remote hearing

House DFL logoSAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA – The Minnesota House Judiciary and Civil Law Division held a remote hearing this morning to discuss a number of proposals related to the court system during the COVID-19 pandemic. With new legislative procedures in place to ensure compliance with social distancing guidelines, it was the panel’s first hearing conducted via video conference.

“During this unprecedented peacetime emergency, we’ve all had to adapt to the new situation in a variety of ways, including changes to how we deliver justice under the law,” said Rep. John Lesch (DFL – Saint Paul), the committee chair. “We’ve worked hard to reach consensus on these key issues that allow important legal mechanisms, like marriages and wills, to proceed, while ensuring members of the public, staff, and officers of the court can all remain safe and healthy.”

The division discussed, amended, and approved three bills. HF 1197, authored by Rep. Lesch, contains a proposal from the Minnesota Judicial Branch to temporarily suspend statutory deadlines in district and appellate courts. HF 1196, also authored by Rep. Lesch, provides a “harmless error” exception which will remove barriers toward proper execution of a will. HF 798, authored by Rep. Kelly Moller (DFL – Shoreview), contains a request from district court and county officials to delay child support cost-of-living adjustments.

While not officially introduced yet, the committee also discussed a bipartisan proposal to allow for marriage license applications during the peacetime emergency without appearing in person.

Video of the hearing is available on House Public Information Services’ YouTube channel.

 

Barr to testify before House Judiciary panel

The Hill logoAttorney General William Barr has agreed to give testimony before the House Judiciary Committee next month amid growing questions over the administration’s alleged interference in the criminal case of a close ally of President Trump.

Democrats on the panel released a letter Wednesday confirming Barr’s March 31 appearance, saying they are concerned the agency has become politicized under his watch.

“In the interest of transparency, we wish to be candid about one set of concerns we plan to address at the hearing. Since President Trump took office, we have repeatedly warned you and your predecessors that the misuse of our criminal justice system for political purposes is both dangerous to our democracy and unacceptable to the House Judiciary Committee,” they wrote. Continue reading.