A letter obtained by Politico from the DoJ to Congressional GQPers hellbent on investigating the investigators clearly states that it has the right to not cooperate with their requests to investigate ongoing investigations.
“Consistent with longstanding policy and practice, any oversight requests must be weighed against the Department’s interests in protecting the integrity of its work,” Carlos Uriarte, DOJ’s legislative affairs chief, wrote in the five-page letter. “Longstanding Department policy prevents us from confirming or denying the existence of pending investigations in response to congressional requests or providing non-public information about our investigations.”
The five page letter addressed to Gym Jordan also cited “a 1982 directive from President Ronald Reagan, stressing that the administration would try to respond to congressional oversight requests and avoid invoking executive privilege, reserving it for use ‘only in the most compelling circumstances.”’ Uriarte, an assistant attorney general, said DOJ would respect the committee’s ‘legitimate efforts’ to seek information, ‘consistent with our obligation to protect Executive Branch confidentiality interests.’”
