WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on a House committee’s investigation of the Justice Department (all times local):
5:30 p.m.
The co-founder of an opposition research firm that hired a former British spy to investigate President Donald Trump’s potential Russia ties is declining to speak with a Republican-led congressional investigation.
An attorney for Glenn Simpson of Fusion GPS says in a new letter that his client won’t participate because he believes the allies of the president leading the probe have slandered and misrepresented the testimony of witnesses who have spoken behind closed doors.
Attorney Joshua Levy also compares the investigation led by Reps. Bob Goodlatte of Virginia and Trey Gowdy of South Carolina to the “treacherous tactics” Sen. Joseph McCarthy used during his anti-Communist hearings in the 1950s.
Simpson has previously sat for three congressional interviews as part of investigations into Russian election interference in the 2016 presidential campaign.
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4:45 p.m.
The Republican-led House Judiciary Committee has subpoenaed the Justice Department for memos written by former FBI acting director Andrew McCabe.
The committee is also demanding documents related to the FBI’s application to monitor the communications of former Trump campaign aide Carter Page.
McCabe kept memos of his interactions with President Donald Trump. He also documented some conversations with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
The memos have taken on new relevance following news reports that Rosenstein discussed secretly recording Trump and invoking constitutional procedures to remove the president.
Rep. Robert Goodlatte, a Virginia Republican and chairman of the panel, said in a letter Thursday to Attorney General Jeff Sessions that the documents the committee wants are records the Justice Department “has either refused to produce or has continually delayed producing.”
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