A key Senate panel will vote next week to authorize subpoenas as part of a Republican-led effort to investigate the origins of the Russia probe and actions by Obama administration officials that “unmasked” associates of President Donald Trump.
Members of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee were informed Thursday morning that the panel will convene in one week to vote on the subpoenas, which will seek “records and testimony” from government agencies and individuals, according to the official notice.
A spokesman for the committee’s chairman, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), did not immediately respond to questions about which agencies and individuals are targeted.
The effort is the latest in a series of new investigations Senate Republicans are pursuing amid encouragement from Trump himself. The Senate Judiciary Committee recently launched a sweeping probe into the origins of the 2016-era investigations that ensnared Trump and his associates for years, and Johnson’s committee is already investigating claims pushed by the president and his allies about former Vice President Joe Biden’s son Hunter.
The investigations have drawn intense scrutiny from Democrats, who argue that Senate Republicans are abusing congressional oversight authority to boost the president’s political fortunes. Republicans say the probes are legitimate, pointing to a Justice Department watchdog report that found widespread abuses of the surveillance courts as it pertained to a former Trump campaign adviser.
Former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is scheduled to testify before the Judiciary Committee next Wednesday as part of that panel’s inquiry. The following day, the committee will vote to authorize Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) to issue a slew of subpoenas to former Obama administration officials who were involved in the investigations that targeted Trump and members of his team.
Johnson has recently placed a greater emphasis on the unmasking issue in light of the Justice Department’s decision to drop the criminal case against former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russia’s ambassador to the U.S.
Earlier this month, Johnson released a declassified list of former Obama administration officials who might have been involved in efforts that “unmasked” Flynn’s identity in intelligence reports. Joe Biden’s name was on the list, in addition to other senior White House and administration officials.