“Given the Department’s ongoing delays in producing these documents, I am left with no choice but to issue the enclosed subpoena to compel production of these documents,” Rep. Bob Goodlatte wrote in a letter to DOJ. | Alex Brandon/AP Photo Goodlatte subpoenas DOJ over Clinton investigation, McCabe firing

The House Judiciary Committee subpoenaed the Justice Department Thursday for records connected to the FBI’s 2016 investigation of Hillary Clinton — as well as the internal report that led to the ouster of former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe.

Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) revealed the subpoenas Thursday afternoon, citing a frustratingly slow pace of cooperation from the department.


“Given the Department’s ongoing delays in producing these documents, I am left with no choice but to issue the enclosed subpoena to compel production of these documents,” Goodlatte wrote in a letter to DOJ.

It's the latest signal of escalating tension between GOP lawmakers and the Justice Department, which have clashed in recent weeks over the release of a House Intelligence Committee memo accusing top FBI officials of misconduct and sparred over access to sensitive intelligence documents.

The new subpoena from Goodlatte encompasses thousands of records gathered by Inspector General Michael Horowitz in his investigation of the FBI's handling of the 2016 investigation of Hillary Clinton's private email server. But Goodlatte said he views the recent firing of McCabe as an extension of the initial request, since McCabe's firing was connected to his role in the Clinton probe.

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The inspector general's report, expected in the coming weeks, is expected to find that McCabe was less than forthcoming under oath. Investigators were probing his approval for FBI officials to engage with a reporter for a story on his handling of an investigation into the Clinton Foundation. McCabe has disputed the charge that he deliberately obfuscated, contending that he followed up where needed to correct the record.

In a statement, a Justice Department spokesman said officials are "committed to accommodating its oversight request in a manner consistent with the Department’s law enforcement and national security responsibilities." The spokesman, Ian Prior, said more than two dozen FBI staff had been working on producing the documents "on a rolling basis" and have delivered about 3,000 of the 30,000 responsive files.

"We are individually reviewing the remaining documents to ensure that they do not include grand jury information, information about ongoing law enforcement actions involving American citizens, or privileged attorney-client communications," he said.

The argument failed to placate GOP lawmakers on the committee who foreshadowed their subpoena request earlier this week.

“I cannot think of a good plausible explanation for why we would have received so few documents over a five-month period, even given the importance and scrutiny to which all the documents should receive for redaction of sensitive potential national security information,” said Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Texas).

Goodlatte’s Senate counterpart, Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), is in the earlier stages of his own oversight process regarding the inspector general's report — initially expected as soon as this month but now likely to slip into next month.

On Monday, Grassley requested Attorney General Jeff Sessions provide relevant documents from the FBI’s Office of Professional Responsibility, which recommended McCabe’s firing. DOJ and the Senate are in discussions about that request, according to a source briefed on its status.

Grassley followed up Wednesday by asking Horowitz for an embargoed copy of the report that underpinned the firing as well as documents that the inspector general gave the FBI ahead of its internal recommendation to axe McCabe.

Among the questions the Senate GOP chairman asked Horowitz: “Do you have any reason to believe the claim that a portion of your report was selectively leaked to the media in order to justify the basis for Mr. McCabe’s termination?”

McCabe, a repeated target of President Donald Trump, has said that the timing of the IG’s report on his conduct appears to have been expedited, and he alleged a broader campaign to discredit him as a potential witness in Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe.

“I don’t know if anyone from the White House or within the Department influenced the IG,” he told POLITICO in an interview earlier this month. “It’s a striking coincidence. One that can’t be seen outside the context of the president’s own public communications.”

New York Rep. Jerry Nadler, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, blasted Goodlatte’s move as an attempt to “pivot the discussion back to Hillary Clinton and divert attention from the chaos surrounding the Trump Administration and allegations involving the Trump campaign.”