DOJ Warns Jim Jordan It Won’t Share Ongoing Probe Information To Protect ‘Integrity’

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has sent a scathing letter to incoming House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), signaling he is unlikely to share information about ongoing investigations to protect the “integrity” of investigations.

The letter also warned that the DOJ would likely not share any “non-public” information.

The letter said the department is “committed to cooperating with the Committee’s legitimate efforts to seek information,” adding, “All requests for oversight must be weighed against the department’s interest in protecting the integrity of its work.” Assistant Attorney General Carlos Uriarte sent the letter Friday to Jordan.

“The Department’s longstanding policy prevents us from confirming or denying the existence of pending investigations in response to congressional requests or from providing nonpublic information about our investigations,” the letter said.

“The Department’s duty to ‘protect the government’s ability to prosecute fully and fairly’ is vital to the executive branch’s primary constitutional function of investigating and prosecuting criminal cases,” Uriarte said in the letter.

He added that executive branch policy throughout history “has generally been to refuse to provide congressional committees with access to or copies of open law enforcement records except in extraordinary circumstances.”

The letter was in response to Jordan’s mass request on Tuesday for information about several investigations to Attorney General Merrick Garland, as well as the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The request included all records and communications related to classified documents recently discovered at President Joe Biden’s home and former office.

Jordan heads not only the Judiciary Committee, but also a special subcommittee to investigate the Biden administration and the so-called “weaponization” of the federal government.

Uriarte’s letter outlines ways DOJ and the commissions can cooperate. Justice Department officials can brief committee members on issues, he noted.

In addition, Justice Department officials can testify in congressional hearings on certain issues as long as they are given at least two weeks’ advance notice, he wrote.

Jordan did not immediately respond to the letter. But a tweet from the committee asked why the Justice Department was “scared” to cooperate.