Devin Nunes gave Justice Department leaders a Monday night deadline for more Trump-Russia files. They said no.

Rep. Devin Nunes is pushing the envelope

(Image credit: Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

published 26 June 2018

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) gave the Justice Department until 5 p.m. on Monday to hand over the latest batch of files he has demanded related to the FBI's investigation of President Trump's 2016 campaign and its tie to Russia. On Sunday, Nunes said the thousands of documents the Justice Department recently handed House Republicans about the origins of the FBI's investigation raise additional questions, including "whether the FBI and Department of Justice leadership intend to obey the law and fully comply with duly authorized congressional subpoenas." On Monday, the Justice Department said yes, it had already complied.

"Your letter asks whether the Department and the FBI 'intend to obey' the law," Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd wrote Nunes on Monday afternoon. "We believe that is exactly what the Department and the FBI have been doing." The Justice Department has complied with Nunes' subpoenas while protecting ongoing investigations in a manner "consistent with the law," Boyd added. The investigation is now being conducted by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, and Nunes seems particularly interested in confidential informants the FBI used in the beginning of the investigation.

The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Adam Schiff (Calif.), criticized the Nunes-led effort "to seek documents in a pending investigation for the purpose of assisting the Trump legal team or, if the Justice Department refuses, using that refusal to undermine Mueller's investigation or give the president a pretext to fire Rod Rosenstein," the deputy attorney general. Trump, meanwhile, has supported the efforts by Nunes, a member of his presidential transition executive committee, and on Monday morning the president tweeted a threat to involve himself in the "totally discredited and very expensive Witch Hunt" if the Justice Department doesn't give over the "requested documents."

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.