Incoming chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) said the Democrats will bring Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker before Congress.
“We are going to bring Whitaker before the Congress, assuming he’s still in his position at the time when Democrats take over,” he told CNN’s Dana Bash on Sunday.
Schiff said he was concerned that Whitaker wasn’t being transparent with lawmakers. “Fact of the matter is that he’s not telegraphing what he’s doing,” he said. “He’s not telling us or anyone, at least in Congress.”
Whitaker has been in Democrat crosshairs ever since his appointment, mainly due to his prior public criticisms of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into the Trump campaign and its alleged ties to Russia.
Despite Mueller’s recent statement that Whitaker’s appointment, “neither alters the special counsel’s authority to represent the United States nor raises any jurisdictional issue,” Schiff isn’t convinced.
“I don’t know… whether he will allow Mueller to subpoena the president or whether he will allow Mueller to look into this issue or giving Mueller a time when he needs to wrap up his investigation,” said Schiff.
Mueller’s statement about Whitaker was part of a 17-page legal brief by one of his top attorneys, and also stated, “The Special Counsel continues to exercise the same authority, and the jurisdiction of the district court and this Court is intact.”
CNN’s Dana Bash: “Have you actually seen him (acting attorney general Matthew Whitaker) take any concrete steps to impede” the Mueller investigation?
Rep. Adam Schiff: “We simply don't know, but I'll tell you this Dana, we're going to find out” #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/ChVF2FLjWo
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) November 25, 2018
