If the Attorney General decided to withhold portions of the pending report of the Special Counsel, he might justify his decision by citing legal protections for grand jury information and for executive privilege.
But there are exceptions to both of these categories, and Congress has tools of its own to pursue the desired information, the Congressional Research Service said in a new assessment.
With respect to grand jury information in the Special Counsel report, “Congress could opt to seek documents or testimony from grand jury witnesses themselves,” CRS said.
As for executive privilege, it “is generally qualified, and can be surmounted (in court) if Congress can show an overriding need for the information.” See The Special Counsel’s Report: Can Congress Get It?, CRS Legal Sidebar, March 8, 2019 And see, relatedly, The Special Counsel’s Report: What Do Current DOJ Regulations Require?, CRS Legal Sidebar, March 7, 2019.
Other noteworthy new and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service include the following.
Membership of the 116th Congress: A Profile, March 7, 2019
Foreign Agents Registration Act: An Overview, CRS In Focus, updated March 7, 2019
United States European Command: Overview and Key Issues, CRS In Focus, March 12, 2019
The War Powers Resolution: Concepts and Practice, updated March 8, 2019
Strategic Competition and Foreign Policy: What is “Political Warfare”?, CRS In Focus, March 8, 2019
Defense Primer: A Guide for New Members, updated March 8, 2019
To tune into the action on the ground, we convened practitioners, state and local officials, advocates, and policy experts to discuss what it will actually take to deploy clean energy faster, modernize electricity systems, and lower costs for households.
From grassroots community impacts to global geopolitical dynamics, understanding developing data center capacities is emerging as a critical analytical challenge.
Over the past few months, the Trump administration has been laying the foundation to expand the use of the Defense Production Act (DPA) for energy infrastructure and supply chains.
Get it right, and pooled hiring becomes a model for how the federal government decides what to do together and what to do apart. That’s a bigger prize than faster hiring. It’s a more functional government.