WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on Wednesday called on several executive branch inspectors general to investigate whether their agencies are complying with politically-driven requests from Congress. In a letter to the State Department Inspector General Steve Linick, Treasury Department Acting Inspector General Richard Delmar, Homeland Security Department Inspector General Joseph Cuffari, and National Archives and Records Administration Inspector General James Springs, Murphy raises concerns that certain executive branch agencies are cooperating with congressional investigations related to Hunter Biden and his work as a private citizen on the board of Burisma, while previously refusing to cooperate with legitimate congressional investigations into President Trump throughout the impeachment inquiry.

“I am deeply concerned that the National Archives and the Departments of State, Treasury, and Homeland Security may not be applying a consistent test regarding inquiries made by Congress, choosing to comply with requests that are designed to damage the president’s political opponents, but refusing to comply with requests into the activities of the president,” Murphy wrote. “This double standard threatens to make these agencies agents of the president’s political campaign, in contravention of federal law.”

Murphy continued: “I am troubled that President Trump may be weaponizing the executive branch in advance of the 2020 elections by directing agencies to comply with congressional investigations designed to hurt his political opponents while stonewalling legitimate oversight investigations into the actions of his own administration.”

A full text of the letter can be found here and below.

 

March 11, 2020

The Honorable Steve Linick                         The Honorable Richard K. Delmar

Inspector General                                          Inspector General

U.S. Department of State                             U.S. Department of the Treasury

Office of the Inspector General                  Office of the Inspector General

SA-39                                                               1500 Pennsylvania Avenue NW

1700 North Moore Street                            Washington, D.C. 20220

Arlington, Virginia 22209

The Honorable Joseph V. Cuffari                  The Honorable James Springs

Inspector General                                            Inspector General

U.S. Department of Homeland Security      National Archives and Records Administration

Office of the Inspector General                    Office of the Inspector General

245 Murray Lane SW                                      8601 Adelphia Road

Washington, D.C. 20528-0305                      College Park, Maryland 20740-6001

Dear Inspectors General Linick, Delmar, Cuffari, and Springs:

Recent reports have revealed that certain executive branch agencies are cooperating with, or considering cooperating with, congressional investigations related to Hunter Biden, a private citizen, and his work on the board of an overseas gas company, Burisma.[1] These same agencies, however, refused to cooperate with other, legitimate congressional investigations into President Trump, most notably inquires by congressional committees charged with considering articles of impeachment against the president.[2]  I am deeply concerned that the National Archives and the Departments of State, Treasury, and Homeland Security may not be applying a consistent test regarding inquiries made by Congress, choosing to comply with requests that are designed to damage the president’s political opponents, but refusing to comply with requests into the activities of the president. This double standard threatens to make these agencies agents of the president’s political campaign, in contravention of federal law.

I therefore write to request that you open an investigation into:

  1. Whether your respective agency cooperated with any congressional requests related to the president’s political opponents, including those associated with Hunter Biden or Burisma;
  2. If so, to what extent your agency complied with such requests;
  3. Whether your respective agency cooperated with congressional requests related to recent impeachment proceedings or the president’s tax returns;
  4. If so, to what extent your agency complied with such requests; and
  5. Whether there has been a different standard applied to document requests for investigations related to the president’s political opponents and document requests related to investigations of the president

I am troubled that President Trump may be weaponizing the executive branch in advance of the 2020 elections by directing agencies to comply with congressional investigations designed to hurt his political opponents while stonewalling legitimate oversight investigations into the actions of his own administration.[3]

Thank you for your attention to this important matter. I request your initial response by March 23, 2020. It is critical that executive branch agencies remain apolitical and not be made agents of a president’s political operation or reelection campaign.

Sincerely,

Christopher S. Murphy

U.S. Senator

 

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