A federal judge criticized the Justice Department for instructing two employees not to testify as part of a Republican-led impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. The House Judiciary Committee sued the employees, Mark Daly and Jack Morgan, for defying subpoenas in an investigation into Hunter Biden. The judge pointed out that a former Trump adviser was sentenced to prison for failing to comply with a congressional subpoena, highlighting the consequences of not cooperating with Congress. This was the first court appearance for lawyers representing the Justice Department and the House Judiciary Committee after the lawsuit was filed last month.
The Justice Department lawyers argued that they had concerns about Congress interrogating line attorneys involved in an open criminal investigation. The judge expressed frustration at their refusal to comply with deposition subpoenas and suggested that the employees may have valid privilege objections to the committee’s questions. She criticized the Justice Department for requiring subpoena recipients to invoke the Fifth Amendment on a question-by-question basis during questioning. The judge also chastised the House Judiciary Committee for what she viewed as a waste of taxpayer money in filing the lawsuit, questioning the purpose of the ongoing grudge match between the executive and legislative branches.
The judge ordered the lawyers for the Justice Department and the House Judiciary Committee, along with two witnesses, to negotiate a compromise in an effort to resolve the situation. If a compromise cannot be reached, she threatened to put the witnesses under oath in a future hearing to assess whether negotiations were conducted in good faith. Additionally, the parties were instructed to submit an estimate of the hours attorneys will spend on the case to track the cost to taxpayers. The House GOP impeachment inquiry, led by Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, has not produced evidence of criminal wrongdoing by the president and has faced setbacks, such as the recent indictment of former FBI informant Alexander Smirnov for providing false information about Biden and his son.
The Justice Department declined to comment on the hearing due to ongoing litigation, while the House Judiciary Committee did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The House GOP impeachment inquiry’s focus on potential criminal referrals rather than impeachment as a likely outcome of the probe has been emphasized by Comer. He argued that impeachment proceedings would likely falter in the Senate, while criminal referrals could lead to action by the Justice Department if former President Donald Trump is reelected in November. The inquiry faced challenges with Smirnov’s indictment for providing false information about the Bidens during the 2020 presidential campaign, casting further doubt on the credibility of the investigation and its findings.
