Rep. Devin Nunes said that a deal was still possible with Attorney General Sessions for the material in question but that he’d been consulting with the House general counsel and was prepared to initiate contempt proceedings should the Justice Department continue to refuse. | AP Photo / J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo Nunes sticks to contempt threat against Sessions

The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), said on Monday that he planned to press ahead with holding Attorney General Jeff Sessions in contempt of Congress unless the Justice Department relented on a decision to deny sharing certain classified documents with lawmakers.

“It wasn’t a threat. It’s what’s going to happen,” Nunes declared on Monday night.


He first raised the issue of a potential contempt charge during a weekend appearance on Fox News.

Nunes said that a deal was still possible with Sessions for the material in question but that he’d been consulting with the House general counsel and was prepared to initiate contempt proceedings should the Justice Department continue to refuse. He added that he believed that Sessions was unaware of his demands, in part because the attorney general has recused himself from matters connected to the 2016 presidential election. So his contempt threat, Nunes said, was in part a message to Sessions.

“Sometimes there’s only certain ways to get the message across,” he said, adding that he expected to contact Sessions about the matter.

POLITICO Playbook newsletter Sign up today to receive the #1-rated newsletter in politics Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

The attorney general was asked by a reporter on Monday in California about Nunes’ demands, and he endorsed the Justice Department’s response but said he hoped to continue the conversation.

“The request he’s made is one that the intelligence communities and the Department of Justice feels is not grantable,” Sessions said. “We’ve explained that we’d like — that we’d be willing to talk to him about it before, the details of which I couldn’t discuss.”

Asked about those comments, Nunes said he expected to speak with the attorney general.

“We were supposed to talk, and I don’t know when we’re going to talk,” he said, adding, “It’s not going to be tonight.”

A source familiar with the matter said there had been no contact between the Justice Department and Nunes as of late Monday over the contempt threat and the subpoena.

Nunes noted that he had sent a separate letter to the White House detailing his demands.

It’s not entirely clear what Nunes is seeking. Elements of his request are classified, something he described as a “challenge” for both him and the media covering the issue. But he indicated that the request was connected to what he and other Republican lawmakers have alleged was an FBI abuse of the national surveillance program known as FISA, as well as “other matters” he couldn’t discuss.

The Justice Department last week rejected Nunes’ subpoena request, which he issued April 24.

In the letter denying his request, the department indicated that providing the documents could have “severe consequences, including potential loss of human lives, damage to relationship with valued international partners, compromise of ongoing criminal investigations and interference with intelligence activities.” The letter also signaled that the department arrived at its decision after consulting the White House and other agencies.

But Nunes said he didn’t believe that the White House was opposed to his request.

“I just don’t believe that the White House does not want to comply with a subpoena from Congress that is pertinent to our investigation,” he said.

Rather, Nunes cast the Justice Department’s rejection as part of a pattern of “obfuscation” and denials of congressional requests for information. He said other Republicans on his committee were “well aware” of the situation and supportive of his position. He also said he had communicated with Speaker Paul Ryan’s staff — though not with the speaker directly — and believed that Ryan would ultimately support his decision.

Nunes dismissed the department’s contention that lives could be lost if the information he requested were shared with Congress.

“C’mon,” he said. “They say that every time.”

Sessions has been recused from matters connected to the 2016 presidential campaign, and Nunes’ previous demand for FISA-related documents pertained directly to a former foreign policy aide in the Trump campaign. But Nunes said Sessions should have at least been briefed on the matter.

Despite Nunes’ suggestion that other Republicans were fully on board — “Our members are well aware of this situation, very much so” — some GOP members of the House Intelligence Committee indicated they were not yet briefed on the chairman’s request and were awaiting a fuller discussion in a Republican committee meeting on Tuesday before endorsing the contempt request.

“I don’t know if I’m there or not. I want to see the whole story,” said Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.)

Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Texas) said he hadn’t yet discussed the matter with Nunes or seen the Justice Department’s response to his request.

Rep. Chris Stewart (R-Utah) said he was familiar with the “essence” of Nunes’ request. "I can assure you there’s no national security consideration,” he said.

But asked about the Justice Department’s contention that the White House had been consulted about the department’s denial, Stewart added, "We’re going to have to get an update on it in the morning.”