WASHINGTON (CN) – The House Judiciary Committee issued a subpoena to the Department of Homeland Security Wednesday demanding the office turn over all documents related to meetings with President Donald Trump and senior representatives in which they allegedly discussed presidential pardons.
The subpoena demands that documents from meetings in April and September with DHS Acting Secretary Kevin McAleenan –and documents from meetings with former DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen – be turned over to the House committee.
The subpoena also mentions documents pertaining to communications between DHS and the Executive Office of the President that relate “to the issuance of presidential pardons, violations of U.S. immigration law, or the construction of a barrier along the U.S.-Mexico border.”
A House Judiciary Committee news release Wednesday states that, according to multiple reports, Trump said during a trip to the border at Calexico, California, that he would pardon McAleenan if he “ever went to jail for denying US entry to migrants.”
During the same visit, according to the news release, Trump also reportedly directed DHS personnel to deny migrants entry into the country, saying: “Tell them we don’t have the capacity … If judges give you trouble, say, ‘Sorry, judge, I can’t do it. We don’t have the room.’”
The committee also states the subpoena would look into this directive, and whether personnel have broken any immigration or federal laws.
“The subpoena also requires documents and communications referring to presidential pardons for potential violations of federal law relating to the enforcement of U.S. immigration laws or the construction of a barrier along the U.S.-Mexico border,” the committee said in a statement.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., said in a statement Wednesday that Trump’s offer to pardon officials was just another example of the president’s disregard for law. Nadler said the committee must continue to gather information on presidential misconduct as they investigate recommending articles of impeachment.
“Such a troubling pattern of obstruction of justice would represent a continuation of the misconduct identified in the Mueller Report,” Nadler said. “The Framers did not envision the use of the presidential pardon power to encourage criminal acts at the President’s direction.”
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
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