The House Judiciary Committee wants to know if acting attorney general Matthew G. Whitaker has ever been briefed on special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's investigation of Russian interference in the U.S. election and, if so, whether Whitaker shared any such information with President Trump or his lawyers.
That is among the questions committee members intend to ask Whitaker at a public hearing scheduled for Feb. 8, his first such appearance before lawmakers since Trump appointed him to the role upon firing Attorney General Jeff Sessions in November.
The committee sent a list of questions in advance to Whitaker on Tuesday. Its chairman, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), noted in his letter that the questions "relate to whether there has been interference with the special counsel's work. They do not relate to the underlying substance" of Mueller's investigation, he wrote.
Nadler said he recognized the White House may seek to claim executive privilege and prevent Whitaker from answering. If the president plans to invoke such a privilege, Nadler wants at least 48 hours notice, he wrote.
He said that "short of a direct and appropriate invocation of executive privilege, I will expect you to answer these questions fully and to the best of your knowledge." He also said, "I would view with considerable skepticism any effort to decline to answer on the basis that the inquiry is related to an ongoing criminal investigation."
Nadler said he gave Whitaker the questions in advance because he is concerned that the Justice Department's independence is at risk.
The committee's Democrats plan to ask about Whitaker's announcement that he would not recuse himself from overseeing the Russia probe despite a Justice Department ethics official's recommendation to the contrary.
Sessions, whom Trump fired Nov. 7, had drawn the president's ire after he recused himself from overseeing the Russia investigation. Nadler wants to know if Whitaker, who had been Sessions's chief of staff, consulted with the White House before making his announcement, and whether Whitaker communicated with Trump or any White House officials about the possibility of his recusal before becoming the acting attorney general.
Nadler also intends to ask about the president's reaction to his former lawyer Michael Cohen pleading guilty to lying to Congress. In his Nov. 29 plea, Cohen said he lied for a person identified in court documents as "Individual 1" and whom he identified in court as Trump.
In his letter, Nadler noted to Whitaker that it has been reported that "Trump 'lashed out' at you on at least two occasions" after Cohen's guilty plea. The congressman said he wants to know if Trump contacted Whitaker after Cohen's plea and, if so, what the president said.
The Judiciary Committee chairman also wants to know if Trump had ever expressed "concern, anger or similar frustration" with the actions of federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York, which handled the Cohen case with Mueller's office.
Ellen Nakashima is a national security reporter for The Washington Post where this appears on January 22, 2019.
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January 23, 2019
Post Script. The fact finding has begun. This is the first report of what my own Congressman, Jerry Nadler, head of House Judiciary, has already begun. #LetThePeopleLearn #ImpeachTrumpNow
