U.S. Attorney John Lausch, the outside source tasked with overseeing the release of more than 1.2 million documents involving FISA warrants and the investigation into Hillary Clinton's activities, admitted Wednesday it is clear the Department of Justice and the FBI must do a better job at getting the documents to the House Intelligence Committee.
However, he told Fox News' "Fox and Friends" care will still be taken to ensure the legal rights of people included in the documents are being protected, and an unredacted version of a two-page document used to formally begin the federal investigation into alleged collusion between Russia and Trump campaign is not included in his project.
"It was made very clear to me by the attorney general that we are to produce documents quickly," Lausch, of Illinois, said, and to "do so completely under the law, do so with fairness and integrity and professionalism."
But the application, which Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., has insisted he wants to see before a noon deadline Wednesday, is not part of Lausch's project.
"That particular thing is being handled elsewhere in the department," Lausch said. "I expect people are taking his concern and that issue very seriously."
Lausch said his job is to deal with the documents deemed responsive to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte's subpoena, and there are many documents being reviewed, including addressing redaction issues.
He also denied the DOJ has refused to turn over anything, despite complaints from committee members and President Donald Trump himself that the department is stonewalling the House committees.
"What our job and what my job will be is to ensure that we have a process, a better process than we have had going forward so far, to get them the materials that they are entitled to while at the same time ensuring that the legal rights of individuals that are in those documents are protected," Lausch said. "For instance, there might be grand jury material in some of those documents. We have a legal duty as prosecutors not to provide those materials. And Congress understands that all of that said, we need to do better. We need to do much better."
Former House Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz, who subpoenaed the documents initially, has insisted if a subpoena is produced, the items must be handed over, and not hand-picked.
"The key there is to produce the relevant documents," Lausch said. "I think there is maybe one misnomer that's out there. The number that's been thrown around is actually a much broader set. 1.2 milliion is a much broader set than documents that are actually related to the Clinton email investigation. So, that's one of the things we need to do."
Chaffetz, now a Fox News contributor, angrily responded after Lausch's statement, pointing out the documents have been under subpoena since 2016.
"For him to come on, John Lausch, that the Department of Justice is not refusing to turn over everything," Chaffetz said. "They have refused to do it. They are out of compliance with a duly issued subpoena. John Lausch, dust off the resume, because [you] will need to get a new job. Anybody who is refusing to turn over those documents, they should be held in contempt. Congress needs to stand up for itself."
Chaffetz said when he chaired the Oversight Committee, he issued the subpoena, but now it is up to "Paul Ryan, Kevin McCarthy, Steve Scalise, if they're going to call themselves leadership, lead on the issue. Get these documents."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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