Elijah E Cummings

Democrats attempted to refute point-by-point a letter from GOP Rep. Mark Meadows to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in which Meadows claims text messages between a former FBI agent and a Justice Department lawyer recently released to Congress show there is a “systemic culture of media leaking by high-ranking officials” at the agencies.

But the fired FBI official Peter Strzok and DOJ lawyer Lisa Page were not texting about leaking information to the press — they were texting about combatting leaks, Democrats said Tuesday.

The U.S. Postal Service inspector general has launched an investigation into the improper release of U.S. congressional candidate Abigail Spanberger’s full, unredacted official personnel file, including a highly confidential national security form known as Standard Form 86.

USPS public relations manager David Partenheimer previously said the USPS was looking into how America Rising, a conservative opposition research group, had obtained the Democratic candidate and former CIA officer’s SF-86, and was still conducting a review, but that the lapse occurred “because of human error” at the postal service.

The top Democrats on the House Oversight Committee want the U.S. Postal Service to investigate how a Paul Ryan-aligned super PAC obtained a Virginia Democratic congressional candidate’s unredacted federal security clearance application.

The Congressional Leadership Fund, which is closely affiliated with House GOP leadership and Speaker Paul D. Ryan, and America Rising, a conservative opposition research group, have said the copy of the form was obtained through a standard Freedom of Information Act request to the National Personnel Records Center, which then kicked it over to the USPS to process and respond.

The top Democrats on the House Oversight Committee want the U.S. Postal Service to investigate how a Paul Ryan-aligned super PAC obtained a Virginia Democratic congressional candidate’s unredacted federal security clearance application.

The Congressional Leadership Fund, which is closely affiliated with House GOP leadership and Speaker Paul D. Ryan, and America Rising, a conservative opposition research group, have said the copy of the form was obtained through a standard Freedom of Information Act request to the National Personnel Records Center, which then kicked it over to the USPS to process and respond.

The top Democrats on the House Oversight Committee want the U.S. Postal Service to investigate how a Paul Ryan-aligned super PAC obtained a Virginia Democratic congressional candidate’s unredacted federal security clearance application.

The Congressional Leadership Fund, which is closely affiliated with House GOP leadership and Speaker Paul D. Ryan, and America Rising, a conservative opposition research group, have said the copy of the form was obtained through a standard Freedom of Information Act request to the National Personnel Records Center, which then kicked it over to the USPS to process and respond.

Democrats on the House Judiciary and Oversight and Government Reform committees have jumped to the defense of Justice Department official Bruce Ohr, who met behind closed doors with Republican lawmakers Tuesday as part of their probe into potential bias at the top reaches of U.S. law enforcement.

Top Judiciary Democrat Jerrold Nadler of New York and Oversight ranking member Elijah E. Cummings said the private hearing with Ohr, the second of four meetings Republicans have scheduled with DOJ and FBI officials over the August recess, was meant to distract from President Donald Trump’s increasingly precarious legal position as special counsel Robert S. Mueller III secures guilty verdicts and plea agreements with multiple people in Trump’s inner circle.

Top Democrats on the House Oversight Committee want to know if National Security Adviser John Bolton told the White House about his reported contact with alleged Russian spy Maria Butina before he was appointed by President Trump. 

Bolton appeared with Butina in a video roundtable discussion about gun rights, reportedly sponsored by the Russian organization Right to Bear Arms, in his previous position as a top National Rifle Association official, Democrats Elijah Cummings and Stephen Lynch wrote in a letter to White House Chief of Staff John Kelly delivered Monday. 

Democrats in Congress condemned President Donald Trump’s latest batch of derisive comments toward Omarosa Manigault Newman, a former White House aide.

After a Tuesday morning tweet in which Trump called Manigault a “crazed, crying lowlife” and a “dog,” several House Democrats took consternation from insults they said were tinged with racial and misogynistic connotations.

Republicans on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee spiked a motion Tuesday from Democrats to subpoena Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats to testify publicly about Russia’s ongoing efforts to interfere in U.S. elections.

Their reason?

Democrats looking for information about what happened during the private meeting between President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin want the U.S. interpreter to testify.

New Jersey Democrat Bill Pascrell called Wednesday on Reps. Trey Gowdy and Elijah Cummings, chairman and ranking member of the House Oversight committee, to ask Marina Gross to testify publicly before the committee.