'Needless escalation': FBI witness testimony triggers DOJ and House GOP feud

05 October 2023

According to an exclusive Thursday, October 5 CNN report, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a letter to the GOP-led House Judiciary Committee accusing the lawmakers of 'needless escalation" regarding President Joe Biden and U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan's (R-OH) "battle over GOP claims that the FBI played a role in social media suppressing a story about Hunter Biden's laptop in 2020."

Per CNN, "At issue is whether Elvis Chan, an FBI special agent whose work focuses on cybersecurity and foreign influence on social media, can be forced to be deposed before Congress without being accompanied by both a Justice Department attorney and his personal lawyer."

The DOJ has warned Chan "not to testify before the" committee over his "request to have both his personal lawyer and a Justice Department attorney present during his deposition, a source familiar with the matter tells CNN."

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Judiciary spokesperson Russell Dye told the news outlet, "Everything is on the table for Mr. Chan, including contempt."

According to the report, "the Republican-led committee claims that under House rules, Chan cannot have both counsels present for a deposition. A line included in House Judiciary rulesstipulates that a witness may be 'accompanied at a deposition by two designated personal, nongovernmental attorneys to advise them of their rights.'"

However, CNN reports, "In its letter to the committee, DOJ argues that under the law, government employees are allowed to be accompanied by agency attorneys during a congressional deposition. The letter says that Chan would not cooperate with the panel's subpoena unless a DOJ attorney is allowed to accompany him along with his personal attorney."

The news outlet notes, "The DOJ and the Republican-led Judiciary Committee have been going back and forth for months over securing Chan’s testimony. Chan was supposed to appear voluntarily before the committee on September 15. But when the panel found out Chan was planning to bring both his agency and personal counsel, the interview fell apart and the committee promptly issued a subpoena."

A senior Democratic aide knowledgable of congressional probes told CNN, "Nobody who has ever been subpoenaed who requested agency counsel has ever been denied agency counsel."

CNN's full report is available at this link.

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