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Several Congressional Panels Investigating Trump

by Reuters

   WASHINGTON --

   More than half a dozen committees of the U.S. Congress are
   investigating President Donald Trump, who is refusing to cooperate with
   most of them since the April 18 release of the Mueller report on
   Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, setting up
   a likely court battle.

   The clash between Trump and the Democrats who lead the House of
   Representatives committees intensified after Trump framed Special
   Counsel Robert Mueller's findings as an exoneration, though Mueller
   neither charged nor exonerated the president.

   The report, in the view of Democrats, provided plentiful leads for
   their further inquiries into ties between Moscow and the 2016 Trump
   campaign, as well as Trump's subsequent efforts to stifle the
   long-running Mueller probe.

   Committees are also looking into Trump's still undisclosed taxes,
   potential conflicts of interest involving the sprawling business
   interests he has not divested since taking office, and other aspects of
   his turbulent presidency.

   Congressional subpoenas are being issued and contempt-of-Congress
   citations are being considered for administration officials who are
   being advised by Trump to ignore the probes. Civil enforcement actions
   in the courts may follow.

   With the 2020 election campaigns underway and casting both sides'
   efforts in an increasingly partisan light, here are the key
   congressional committees involved.

   'House Judiciary Committee

   The committee's Democratic chairman, Jerrold Nadler, is an old foe of
   Trump, going back years to a fight between the two New Yorkers over a
   large Trump real estate project in Manhattan.

   Nadler's panel has subpoenaed the Justice Department seeking the full,
   unredacted Mueller report and underlying evidence, as well as former
   White House counsel Don McGahn to testify in May.

   Justice Department officials informed the committee Wednesday night
   that Barr would not testify Thursday before the committee to discuss
   Mueller's report.

   Judiciary Committee investigators are also focused on contacts Trump's
   campaign had with Russia during the 2016 presidential race. Any effort
   to impeach Trump would likely begin in the committee.

   In a book he published in 2000, Trump called Nadler "one of the most
   egregious hacks in contemporary politics."

   'Senate Judiciary Committee

   The Senate Judiciary Committee was the first panel to question Barr
   after the release of the Mueller report.

   Barr on Wednesday defended his decision to clear Trump of criminal
   obstruction of justice by attempting to impede Mueller's Russia inquiry
   and criticized Mueller for not reaching a conclusion of his own on the
   issue.

   Barr was asked about findings that Trump directed then-White House
   Counsel McGahn to ask the department's No. 2 official, Rod Rosenstein,
   to fire Mueller over the special counsel's alleged conflicts of
   interest. McGahn told Mueller's investigators that he refused to carry
   out the president's request.

   Barr said Trump believed "he never outright directed the firing of
   Mueller."

   House Oversight and Reform Committee

   Democratic Chairman Elijah Cummings' panel in February held 2019's
   first public hearing on Trump's many issues, taking testimony from
   former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, who is scheduled to report to
   prison next month.

   On April 2, the committee voted to subpoena Carl Kline, a former White
   House official, over a probe into security clearances granted by the
   administration.

   The White House said it told Kline to ignore the committee's subpoena.
   Cummings said the panel will soon vote on whether to hold Kline in
   contempt of Congress over the matter.

   Trump has filed an unprecedented lawsuit attempting to squash a
   committee subpoena seeking his past financial records from Mazars USA,
   an accounting firm long used by Trump.

   The administration has rebuffed a committee request for an interview
   with John Gore, an official who was involved in a decision to include a
   citizenship question in the 2020 census.

   Also, the White House has refused a request from the panel for Trump's
   top immigration aide Stephen Miller to testify.

   House Ways and Means Committee

   The House tax committee, led by Democrat Richard Neal, has asked the
   Treasury Department's Internal Revenue Service to hand over six years
   of Trump's personal and business tax returns.

   Unlike presidents in recent decades, Trump has refused to disclose his
   returns, which committee Democrats want to obtain and review. Committee
   Republicans argue the committee's request oversteps its authority.

   Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin did not meet an April 23 committee
   deadline for handing over the returns and said that a "final decision"
   on the request would be made by May 6.

   'House Intelligence Committee

   The committee's chief, whom Trump has mocked as "sleazy" and "little
   pencil neck Adam Schiff," is examining Russian influence in U.S.
   politics and whether any foreign countries hold leverage over Trump,
   his family, his business or his associates.

   Like other panels, Schiff's has expressed an interest in having Mueller
   testify about his findings.

   Senate Intelligence Committee

   Republican Richard Burr's committee is also looking into Russia's role
   in influencing U.S. elections. The committee could release its findings
   later this year.

   In late March, Trump adviser Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law,
   made a second appearance before the panel, according to congressional
   sources. Topics discussed in the closed-door sessions were not made
   public.

   'House Financial Services Committee

   Democratic Chairwoman Maxine Waters, whom Trump has also frequently
   mocked, is leading a probe into Trump's ties with Deutsche Bank AG, one
   of the world's largest financial institutions, as well as potential
   Russian money laundering through the bank. The committee oversees the
   financial services industry including banks.

   Waters has said the House should impeach Trump.