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Pursue the truth and justice for the american people, to understand if lies, deceit and corruption are threatening american democracy, and indeed our safety. mr. chairman, charities should not be abused as personal piggy banks. it is both against the law and extremely unfair to charities that play by the rules. a line of questioning that we have not yet addressed and have been glaringly absent in tackling is that of the abuses of the trch foundation. the presidents charitable foundation agreed t...

I am concerned by some of the arguments the department raised in a lengthy letter we received late yesterday. i doubt, for example, that any privileged attachments about criminal investigations where the president, his campaign, his business and close associates are subjects and in some cases targets of the investigation. i also take issue with your written testimony which we didnt receive until almost midnight last night when you suggested you, quote, will continue the longstanding executive br...

Commitment to the rule of law protects our democracy. given the focus of this hearing, i therefore feel compelled to single out for praise the career ethics officials who helped you transition into your role as acting attorney general. on december 20 in a letter from the department meant to justify some of the decisions well examine here today, congress learned the following. quote, in a meeting with the acting attorney general senior staff ethics officials concluded that if a recommendation wer...

Completed, unquote. this was said despite the fact you recognized moments before it was ongoing stating im not going to talk about an open and ongoing investigation otherwise, close quote. all im asking you is have you been asked to approve or disapprove a request or action to be taken by the special counsel? >> point of order, mr. chairman. >> ive asked the question. were not operating under the five-minute rule anymore then? >> the witness will answer the question. >> i want to be very specifi...

Your iteration of the departments longstanding policy appears to delay answering these questions as long as possible. i find that unacceptable. i understand the role of executive privilege and respect its value in our system of governance. however, congress is a co-equal branch of government and responsibility to conduct oversight. this is a responsibility we take very seriously. i have repeatedly tried to work with your office first in delaying the hearing until february and then in providing y...

Americas greatness and this new green deal has no chance of going anywhere. >> bill: were crunched on time as you can clearly see. thank you from the north lawn. matthew whitaker, this is the democrat from new york jerry nadler, the chairman of the house judiciary committee. lets drop in. >> some cases targets of the investigation. i also take issue with your written testimony which we did not receive until almost midnight last night when you suggest that you quote will continue the longstanding...

Office. over the past day the department and the committee have exchanged letters concerning the prerogatives of the legislative and executive branchs. im glad we reached an agreement for me to appear here voluntarily and each branch would seek to accommodate each other and if we have differences well try to work them out in good faith before resorting to subpoenas or other formal legal processes. i will answer the committees questions as best i can. but i will continue the longstanding executiv...

Advance so that you would have time to consult with the white house of any possible executive privilege. i understand you may disagree with the committee and as a consequence you may not fully respond to every question we asked today. im willing to work with the department in those disagreements on a case-by-case basis. i take your reluctance to answer guess about these communications as a deeply troubling sign. when our members ask if you conveyed sensitive to the information to the president o...

His discussions with anyone in the administration about the special counsel and on that basis whitaker has declined to answer those questions saying thats really an issue for executive privilege. a couple other things that have jumped out at me. we have had confirmation from the acting attorney general the carter page fisa surveillance warrant obtained by the f.b.i. and justice department in october of 2016 for trump campaign aide and more specifically the contact the senior f.b.i. and justice d...

Today? >> i dont want to speculate about what may happen later in the hearing but i can tell you in the last 24 hours i think both sides have laid down markers as to how far theyre willing to go on the special counsel. the acting attorney general and justice department has said on background and then also in letters that he will state on the record as he has this morning there was no ask or request for changes on the special counsel investigation by the president or other people within the white...