WASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Ranking Member of the
Senate Judiciary Committee, joined Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Leader Mitch
McConnell (R-Ky.) and 41 of their Republican Senate colleagues in calling on
the Justice Department allow the special counsel review of the origins of the FBI’s
Russian interference investigation to continue unimpeded. The lawmakers also
urged the department to make the final investigative report available to the
public upon completion.
“The Special Counsel’s ongoing work is important to
many Americans who were disturbed that government agents subverted lawful
process to conduct inappropriate surveillance for political purposes. The truth
pursued by this investigation is necessary to ensure transparency in our
intelligence agencies and restore faith in our civil liberties,” the senators wrote in a joint letter to
Attorney General Merrick Garland.
In response to an
earlier
inquiry from Grassley and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), the Justice Department
concurred
with former Attorney General William Barr’s order requiring Special Counsel
John Durham to submit interim and final reports of investigation to the
attorney general in a format fit for public dissemination.
Along with Grassley, Blackburn and McConnell, the
joint letter is cosigned by Sens.
Pat Toomey (R-Penn.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Bill
Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Mike Crapo
(R-Idaho), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.),
Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.),
Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), James Risch (R-Idaho), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Ted Cruz
(R-Texas), John Thune (R-S.D.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), John Cornyn (R-Texas),
Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), John Kennedy (R-La.), Shelley Moore
Capito (R-W.Va.), Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), James
Lankford (R-Okla.), James Inhofe (R-Okla.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), John
Boozman (R-Ark.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Marco Rubio
(R-Fla.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.),
Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), John Hoeven
(R-N.D.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), and Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.).
The letter is available
HERE.
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