US House Dems Demand Subpoenas for Trump Administration Docs on Whistleblowers

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Subpoenaed documents from the departments of Justice and Homeland Security are needed to force Trump administration compliance with a law that allows whistleblowers to communicate with Congress, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Ranking Democrat Elijah Cummings wrote in a letter to committee Chairman Trey Gowdy.

"Rather than protecting whistleblowers, the Committee appears to be more interested in protecting President Trump," the letter said. "Unfortunately, you [Gowdy] have refused to issue even a single subpoena to any agency or official during your entire tenure as Chairman, and it appears that this abdication of oversight may be emboldening the Trump Administration to simply ignore our requests."

At issue is a series of requests for documents on the use of nondisclosure agreements by the departments of Justice and Homeland Security that Cummings claimed violate the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act.

The latter allows government employees to share concerns with members of Congress.

The release cited the failure by both departments to comply with a series of requests in early 2017 for documents relating to the Trump administration’s use of nondisclosure agreements.

The Oversight and Government Reform Committee has since heard from multiple government employees, who are afraid to expose wrongdoing in the administration because of purported agreements, the release said.