Collins releases minority report on resolution to enforce McGahn subpoena

"Even though McGahn could not comply with the subpoena, the House of Representatives scheduled a vote to authorize the House to go to court to enforce the subpoena. The House Democrats’ decision to take this step under the circumstances here is unreasonable, unwarranted and unprecedented. Taking these facts to court to enforce the subpoena could result in a decision unfavorable to the House of Representatives as an institution, therefore potentially weakening Congress’s power going forward." 

WASHINGTON — Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.), Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, today released the minority staff report on the resolution authorizing the Judiciary Committee to sue for civil enforcement of the subpoena issued by Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) to Don McGahn. The report is available here. Key points of the report include:

• The chairman has not engaged in good-faith negotiations with McGahn or the White House. This undermines the Judiciary Committee’s legal position should the suit reach federal court, which could weaken the authority Congress has under Article I.

 

• Mr. McGahn is not the custodian of the requested documents — the White House is. The chairman has refused to negotiate with the White House for these documents, even though the White House has custody of the documents the committee has requested from McGahn and the White House has repeatedly invited the chairman to negotiate for documents.

 

• The chairman has failed to address the White House’s legitimate claim of testimonial immunity for the president’s closest advisers and continues to demand that McGahn appear — despite the Office of Legal Counsel opinion explaining the longstanding rationale for granting immunity to senior advisors to the president.

 

• The chairman has never formally objected to the president’s protective assertion of executive privilege, an important procedural step necessary before further action. As it stands, the Department of Justice’s review of the materials requested from the attorney general is ongoing. Accordingly, it is untimely and illogical to file a claim against McGahn before the Department of Justice has had time to review the requested materials and determine which of those materials are subject to executive privilege.

 

• Executive privilege was not waived when McGahn cooperated with the special counsel investigation.

 

• The House is moving with unprecedented speed — more than five times faster than the previous two times the House sought civil enforcement action of a subpoena.

 

• The Rules Committee scheduled a floor vote to file suit against McGahn on June 6, 2019 — before the chairman’s June 7, 2019 deadline for McGahn to produce documents had passed.