WASHINGTON – More than a year after then-President
Trump directed details of the government’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation to
be declassified, the Justice Department continues to hide those important
records. Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Chuck Grassley
(R-Iowa) and Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations Ranking Member Ron
Johnson (R-Wis.) today are calling on the department to promptly comply with
the declassification directive.
“We remain concerned that over one year from the date then-President
Trump directed the Justice Department to declassify certain Crossfire Hurricane
records the Justice Department has not only failed to declassify a single page,
the Department has failed to identify for Congress records that it knows with
certainty to be covered by the declassification directive.,” the senators wrote in a letter to Attorney General Merrick
Garland.
The letter renews
concerns
raised in October about the department’s failure to disclose records
related to its Russian interference investigation.
The department’s delayed transparency has interfered with congressional investigators’
review of what should already be public records. Congressional investigators
have been required to view Crossfire Hurricane documents in the department’s
secured facilities, and the department has been unable to confirm which records
are subject to Trump’s declassification directive.
“…our staff should not have to spend potentially multiple days and countless
hours in the Department’s classified facility only to play a guessing game with
the Department about what document may or may not be covered by the
declassification directive and potentially review records that have already
been produced to Congress.”
The senators are calling on the department to explain the steps it’s
taking to comply with the year-old transparency order and ensure that records
aren’t further subjected to unnecessary redactions.
“Our oversight efforts are based on our unyielding belief that the
American people deserve to know the complete truth about the Crossfire
Hurricane investigation,” the senators wrote.
February 15, 2022
VIA
ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION
The Honorable Merrick Garland
Attorney General
Department of Justice
Dear Attorney General Garland:
We are in receipt of your January 20, 2022, letter which was sent in
response to our October 13, 2021, letter.
We remain concerned that over one year from the date then-President
Trump directed the Justice Department to declassify certain Crossfire Hurricane
records the Justice Department has not only failed to declassify a single page,
the Department has failed to identify for Congress records that it knows with
certainty to be covered by the declassification directive.
Your letter noted that on July 9, 2021, the Department “offered to
compare the documents we understand to be covered by the Memorandum with the
documents that had been previously provided to Congress…” However, your letter also stated that the
Department “has been taking steps to determine” which documents can be
disclosed and that review is “ongoing.” It
is incumbent upon the Department to determine which records are covered by the
declassification directive and it is clear from your letter that the Department
– after more than one year – has yet to get the job done. Moreover, the Department has refused to
commit to producing records to Congress without Freedom of Information Act and
related redactions.
When the Department is able to (1) identify with certainty the records
subject to the declassification directive; (2) confirm the records are not
those that have already been reviewed by our staff; and (3) agree that no improper
redactions will be placed on those records, our staff stand ready to review in
camera prior to production to Congress. Absent
those conditions, our staff should not have to spend potentially multiple days
and countless hours in the Department’s classified facility only to play a
guessing game with the Department about what document may or may not be covered
by the declassification directive and potentially review records that have
already been produced to Congress.
Further, your letter failed to accurately recite the communications
between our respective staff. For
example, our staff have insisted – on many occasions – that the Department must
first identify the records subject to the declassification order and, second,
produce those records to Congress and the American people without improper
redactions. Our oversight efforts are
based on our unyielding belief that the American people deserve to know the
complete truth about the Crossfire Hurricane investigation.
Finally, regarding your compliance with the declassification directive, your
letter failed to provide any information about the actions taken to determine
which records fall under the scope of the declassification directive, the
number of records identified to-date and the extent to which the identified
records will be declassified. We request
a detailed response with respect to those questions and a commitment to the
aforementioned conditions no later than March 1, 2022.
Sincerely,
Charles E. Grassley
Ranking Member
Committee on the Judiciary
Ron Johnson
Ranking Member
Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations
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