Letter to the Honorable Jefferson Sessions, Attorney General of US Department of Justice and the Honorable James Comey, Director of Federal Bureau of Investigation - Full Briefing Request on National Security Agency Director Michael Flynn's Communication with Russian Officials

Letter

Dear Attorney General Sessions and Director Comey:

We are writing to request a full briefing by the Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and other relevant agencies concerning former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn's communications with Russian officials, and any knowledge and involvement others in the Trump Administration may have had concerning those communications. The fact that General Flynn was forced to resign last evening does not diminish the need for the briefing--it only reinforces the urgency of our request.

We learned yesterday that senior U.S. law enforcement officials warned the White House Counsel three weeks ago that General Flynn had provided false information to the public about his communications with the Russian government, and that the Russians might attempt to leverage that misconduct to compromise General Flynn. It is unclear what actions, if any, the Trump Administration took with this information. They did not clarify the facts with the American public, and they did not prevent General Flynn from continuing to access highly classified information--despite the fact that he provided false information to federal officials about his contacts with a foreign government, behavior that surely disqualifies him from handling national security secrets.

It may be possible that others in the Administration were aware of General Flynn's conversations with Russian officials long before the Department of Justice decided to intervene.

Members of the House Committee on the Judiciary, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and others have a responsibility under the Constitution to ask questions about these events. We need to know what Trump Administration officials knew about General Flynn's communications, whether General Flynn was indeed susceptible to blackmail by the Russian government, and what role the White House Counsel played in this matter.

All House Democrats believe that an independent, bipartisan commission is required to review the full scope of Russian interference in our recent elections. However, yesterday's new revelation about a post-election cover-up demands immediate oversight by the Congress. We request a full briefing, in a classified setting if necessary, as soon as possible, but no later than Thursday, February 16, 2017.

Thank you for your prompt response to this time-sensitive request.