Gabe Cavallaro

gcavallaro@newsleader.com

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-6th, called on the FBI to "follow all legitimate investigative leads" into whether Russia interfered in the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election in a letter to FBI Director James Comey Wednesday, according to a press release.

He also urged the FBI to investigate "leads regarding the mishandling of classified information" and reiterated his request for a "briefing on these matters" as well as the allegations made by President Donald Trump that he was under surveillance during the presidential election.

Goodlatte, who is Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, was joined in signing the letter by all other Republican members of the committee, except for U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas.

This comes after Goodlatte and other Republican members of the committee last week blocked a Democratic attempt to make the Justice Department produce records associated with its probe into whether Trump and his campaign had secret ties to Russia.

Constituents pack meeting with Goodlatte staff

He said that resolution, introduced by U.S. Rep. Jarrold Nadler, D-N.Y., was "unnecessary, premature, and not the best way for this committee or the house to conduct oversight over the issues covered by the resolution" in his opening statement from the House Judiciary Committee’s markup of Nadler's resolution.

Goodlatte said the resolution wouldn't affect the attorney general’s obligation to produce documents to Congress, as resolutions aren't subpoenas and so have no legal force or effect.

The resolution was about politics, not information, he argued, saying "our oversight efforts can, and should be better than that."

"There is no compelling reason to use today’s meeting of the House Judiciary Committee as yet another forum to debate whether Russia hacked the election or whether Jared Kushner should have a job in the West Wing," he said at the time. "We can and will investigate any credible allegations of misconduct by the Executive Branch to the extent such allegations fall within this committee’s jurisdiction, but we will not do so through politically-charged resolutions of inquiry that could jeopardize the integrity of the very investigations the resolution calls for."

Who is Bob Goodlatte?

Below is the quoted letter to Comey from the Wednesday press release.