Report: DOJ Tells Jim Jordan Subpoenas Not Enforceable
The Biden administration's Department of Justice on Tuesday night said it will not cooperate with a House committee's subpoenas for two FBI agents involved in the department's investigation of Hunter Biden, the Washington Examiner reported.
The DOJ says it will not cooperate because the House Judiciary Committee had prohibited department lawyers at the agents' depositions, DOJ Assistant Attorney General Carlos Uriarte claimed in a letter to committee Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio.
A copy of the letter was obtained by
the Examiner.
Uriarte told Jordan his subpoenas to the two agents, special agents Thomas Sobocinski and Ryeshia Holley of the FBI's Baltimore Field Office, "lack legal effect and cannot constitutionally be enforced."
"The subpoenas issued by the Committee prohibit the attendance of agency counsel at appearances by two FBI employees where the Committee has indicated it will ask questions regarding information they learned within the scope of their official duties, including regarding the ongoing criminal investigation," Uriarte wrote, the Examiner reported.
The Judiciary Committee's deposition rule aligns with House rules, which do not permit department counsel at depositions.
Uriarte added that compelling testimony from the two FBI agents "was premature" because the DOJ was open to continuing "discussions" with Jordan, the Examiner said.
The House Judiciary and Ways and Means Committees early last week subpoenaed IRS investigators and DOJ officials present at or with direct knowledge of a 2022 meeting in which U.S. Attorney for Delaware David Weiss
allegedly claimed he was prevented from bringing charges against Hunter Biden for tax crimes.
The subpoenas issued came after the DOJ and IRS refused to comply with multiple requests for voluntary transcribed interviews with the witnesses, including Sobocinski and Holley.
In the letter to Jordan, Uriarte indicated that "good-faith" negotiations to have the two agents appear voluntarily with DOJ lawyers instead of appearing in the form of a deposition remained possible.
However, the assistant attorney general made it clear that the DOJ's Biden investigation, led by special counsel Weiss, was ongoing and that information flow would be limited, the Examiner reported.
"The Department therefore safeguards non-public information about open investigations, sensitive law enforcement information, and internal deliberations," Uriarte wrote to Jordan. "This protects the public interest in the integrity and fairness of criminal investigations and proceedings. These concerns are heightened while a matter is open and investigative steps, prosecutorial decisions, or judicial proceedings are ongoing. As Mr. Weiss and his office have repeatedly stated, his investigation remains ongoing."
Delaware U.S. District Court Judge Maryellen Noreika
rejected a proposed plea deal on July 26 when she questioned aspects of the agreement for Hunter Biden to plead guilty to tax charges and avoid a gun charge.