Washington, D.C. – Today, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), sent the following response to Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker after receiving a letter this afternoon from the Department of Justice in which Mr. Whitaker threatened to withdraw from tomorrow's public hearing.

A copy of the response can be found below and here:

February 7, 2019

The Honorable Matthew Whitaker
Acting Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20530

Dear Acting Attorney General Whitaker:

Earlier today, I received a letter from Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd, seeking “a written assurance . . . that the Committee will not issue a subpoena to the Acting Attorney General on or before February 8.”  Absent such an assurance, the Department tells us, you “will be forced to decline to participate in the hearing.”

If you appear before the Committee tomorrow morning and if you are prepared to respond to questions from our Members, then I assure you that there will be no need for the Committee to issue a subpoena on or before February 8.  To the extent that you believe you are unable to fully respond to any specific question, we are prepared to handle your concerns on a case-by-case basis, both during and after tomorrow’s hearing.

Thank you, and I look forward to your testimony tomorrow.

Sincerely,

__________________________________

Jerrold Nadler
Chairman
House Committee on the Judiciary

cc: The Hon. Doug Collins
      Ranking Member, House Committee on the Judiciary