XPost: alc.general, alt.abortion, alt.appalachian   
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   From: perjury@msnbc.com   
      
   The chairman of the House Oversight Committee doubled down   
   Thursday on his call for the FBI to produce documents related to   
   fired FBI Director James Comey's interactions with White House   
   officials, after the bureau rejected his initial request.   
      
   "Congress does not conduct criminal or counterintelligence   
   investigations; rather Congress's power of inquiry is rooted in   
   part in its duty to oversee the Executive Branch's faithful   
   enforcement of the laws that Congress enacted," Chairman Jason   
   Chaffetz (R-Utah) wrote in a letter to acting FBI Director   
   Andrew McCabe.   
      
   "In this case, the focus of the Committee's investigation is the   
   independence of the FBI, including conversations between the   
   President and Comey and the process by which Comey was removed   
   from his role as director," added Chaffetz, who will leave the   
   House at the end of next month.   
      
   Chaffetz and the Oversight Committee's top Democrat, Elijah   
   Cummings (Md.), had first requested the records last week,   
   setting a May 24 deadline for the FBI to produce them.   
      
   But the agency ultimately blew past that deadline, prompting the   
   Thursday followup.   
      
   In a Thursday letter to Chaffetz, Gregory Brower, the assistant   
   director for the FBI's Office of Congressional Affairs, said the   
   bureau would not comply because of Deputy Attorney General Rod   
   Rosenstein's appointment last week of special counsel. Former   
   FBI Director Robert Mueller will oversee the law enforcement   
   investigation into possible coordination between President   
   Trump's campaign and Russia.   
      
   But in his letter to McCabe responding to the refusal, Chaffetz   
   argued that Mueller's special counsel appointment should not   
   interfere with congressional investigations into Russian efforts   
   to meddle in the 2016 election.   
      
   "In recognition of our mutual interest in avoiding any actions   
   that would jeopardize either the Special Counsel's investigation   
   or Congress's investigation, and in response to Rosenstein's   
   request, I am seeking to better understand Corney's   
   communications with the White House and Attorney General in such   
   a way that does not implicate the Special Counsel's work," he   
   wrote.   
      
   Still, Chaffetz's letter significantly narrowed the scope of his   
   committee's records request, asking only for "documents that are   
   outside the scope of the Special Counsel's investigation" and   
   seeking records going back to Sept. 4, 2013 — a far shorter   
   timeframe than the initial request.   
      
   Internal FBI memos, particularly those authored by Comey, became   
   the subject of intense interest by congressional investigators   
   last week amid reports that Trump had asked Comey in February to   
   drop his bureau's investigation into former national security   
   adviser Michael Flynn.   
      
   The letter sets a June 8 deadline for the FBI to provide the   
   requested records.   
      
   That episode was reportedly detailed in a memo prepared by Comey   
   shortly afterward, and some congressional investigators have   
   said that similar memos could provide insight into the former   
   FBI director's fraught relationship with Trump and the reason   
   for his abrupt firing earlier this month.   
      
   "The records being withheld are central to those questions, even   
   more so in light of Comey's decision not to testify before the   
   Committee at this time," Chaffetz wrote.   
      
   http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/335200-chaffetz-   
   doubles-down-on-request-for-fbi-memos   
      
   Looks like Democrat lies and fake news are catching up with them   
   again.   
       
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)