Cline Asks DHS Witness Point Blank If White House Is Clearing Materials Requested By The Committee

4 months ago

At a House Judiciary Committee hearing last week, Rep. Ben Cline (R-VA) about compliance with Committee oversight.

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Transcript

00:00 Thank you, Ms. Butto.

00:06 We'll now proceed under the five-minute rule with questions.

00:09 I recognize myself for five minutes.

00:13 Ms. Butto, since the beginning of the 118th Congress, the Committee has sought information

00:18 regarding criminal illegal aliens allowed entry into the United States.

00:22 These requests languished with DHS for months, despite Committee staff following up with

00:27 DHS regularly.

00:28 As a result, the Committee ultimately subpoenaed DHS for these materials on December 8th of

00:33 2023.

00:34 Of the 14 A-files DHS is compelled by the subpoena to produce, only 11 have been provided.

00:40 Despite the Committee's subpoena production deadline lapsing on January 8th, 2024, DHS

00:46 has failed to produce the remaining A-files, citing the "corruption" of the documents as

00:53 an excuse to Committee staff in April of 2024.

00:56 When did DHS begin the process of responding to the Committee's June 9th, July 31st, and

01:02 September 14th requests?

01:06 Thank you for your question, Mr. Chair.

01:08 With respect to the A-files, the Department responds to each congressional request we

01:13 receive, whether it's a document production, a letter, etc.

01:17 The Department always responds.

01:19 With respect to the A-files in particular, they don't all live in the same place.

01:24 So it is a time-consuming process, whether it's a file that lives with CBP versus ICE,

01:29 etc.

01:30 So at the time that we would have received the initial request, that would have began

01:34 the process of working with the components to identify where information resides, and

01:39 some of these files are incredibly large, so that is a time-consuming process.

01:42 So you're stating that you began the process when you received the initial request?

01:49 Anytime we receive a request, that is when we begin the accommodations process, plus

01:53 the identification process, which I think is a slightly different process.

01:56 Because you know my kids like to wait until the last minute to do their homework.

02:01 Can you state with absolute certainty that it was before the Committee's December 8th,

02:06 2023 subpoena?

02:08 Yes.

02:09 Has the Department compiled the remaining A-files that are due to the Committee?

02:14 So I would like to first thank your staff.

02:18 We have been in constant communication with regards to the A-file, and we've become

02:21 in the process of prioritizing some of these files.

02:25 Some of the files are incredibly large, some of them are smaller, so we have, I believe

02:31 as recently as this week, continued to push some of the ones that were more of a manageable

02:36 size and we will continue to do so.

02:38 So you're still pulling relevant documents?

02:40 Yes.

02:41 Can you commit to producing the remaining A-files by May 17th?

02:46 Mr. Chair, I think it would be irresponsible for me to commit to a date when I cannot identify

02:53 each particular file and where each particular document is.

02:57 What I can commit to is aggressively working with our team to be responsive to the Committee's

03:02 requests.

03:03 So you can't give me a date today?

03:08 I don't believe that, recognizing that I'm under oath, I would love to say that the 17th

03:13 would be a date, certain, but I don't think that would be appropriate.

03:17 If I said June 17th, or would you like to confirm that you can't give me a date today?

03:25 Chairman Kline, I can commit to you that we will aggressively work towards getting those

03:32 files as soon as possible.

03:33 My understanding is we have worked through a process of triaging, which I would think

03:38 would help facilitate faster movement on the remaining files.

03:42 In one A-file produced to the Committee, an annotation was included that reads, "Consultation

03:51 with the White House."

03:52 Right there.

03:55 Did the White House play any role in DHS's clearance process of this production?

04:00 I don't believe so, Congressman, but I would have to verify.

04:04 Okay.

04:05 Can you explain that annotation?

04:06 I cannot.

04:07 And I'd be happy to take that back and get clarity on what that is.

04:11 Thank you.

04:12 We'd like to get that clarification immediately, if possible.

04:18 During this administration—

04:19 Mr. Chairman, is there a, like, a Bates stamp number on the document there, or something?

04:25 I'd like to see the document as well.

04:27 It's in our possession.

04:28 We'll make sure that we circulate that, but it's been provided by the witness to us, and

04:33 so we have that.

04:35 Sure, sure.

04:38 During this administration, did the White House ever play any role in DHS's clearance

04:43 process for any materials requested by the Committee?

04:47 Congressman, as I stated in my opening statement, we work very hard to cooperate with the Committee

04:56 and work through the accommodations process while also balancing the executive branch's

05:03 confidentiality interests.

05:04 So I think, you know, we are in constant communication across agencies, you know, with the White

05:11 House as the executive branch, but, you know, with respect to any one particular file or

05:17 request, I wouldn't be in a position to answer that today.

05:19 Well, generally, then, did the White House ever play any role?

05:23 And you're telling me the answer is yes.

05:26 I think, as a general matter, the Office of Legislative Affairs works with the Office

05:31 of General Counsel and any individual components, and it does not, I would say, you know, in

05:38 my tenure, standard practice, that if there is a production that's being requested, it

05:44 goes much further than the apartment itself.

05:46 Okay.

05:47 So I'll take that as a yes.

Cline Asks DHS Witness Point Blank If White House Is Clearing Materials Requested By The Committee

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