Investigate the Investigators Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3028 To require the Inspector General for the Department of Justice to conduct oversight of investigations of certain political officials, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 28, 2019 Mr. BYRNE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To require the Inspector General for the Department of Justice to conduct oversight of investigations of certain political officials, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Investigate the Inves- 4 tigators Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. OVERSIGHT OF CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS OF 6 CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS. 7 (a) ATTORNEY GENERAL NOTICE OF INVESTIGA- 8 TION.—In the case that a covered party is a subject of 9 an investigation conducted by the Department of Justice, 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:11 Jun 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3028.IH H3028 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 3028 IH the Attorney General shall provide to the Inspector Gen- 1 eral for the Department of Justice a notice of such inves- 2 tigation not later than 5 days after such investigation 3 commences. 4 (b) INSPECTOR GENERAL OVERSIGHT.— 5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Inspector General for 6 the Department of Justice shall immediately com- 7 mence an oversight investigation of the investigation 8 described in subsection (a) to ensure that— 9 (A) the decision to investigate the conduct 10 of the covered party was not influenced by po- 11 litical pressures or politically motivated objec- 12 tives; 13 (B) the conduct of the investigation is not 14 influenced by the political beliefs or motives of 15 any person engaged in the investigation or the 16 superiors of such individuals; 17 (C) evidence used in the investigation is 18 obtained by lawful means and not tainted by 19 political sources or motives; and 20 (D) warrants sought in the investigation 21 are supported by probable cause and in compli- 22 ance with all applicable law. 23 (2) DURATION.—The oversight investigation 24 shall be ongoing and continue at least until the in- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:11 Jun 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3028.IH H3028 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 3028 IH vestigation described in subsection (a) has been 1 closed. 2 (3) ACCESS TO MATERIALS.—Notwithstanding 3 any other provision of law, the Attorney General 4 shall make available to the Inspector General for the 5 Department of Justice any materials that are rel- 6 evant to the investigation described in subsection 7 (a). The Inspector General, in consultation with the 8 Attorney General, shall ensure appropriate proce- 9 dures to safeguard any intelligence and counterintel- 10 ligence materials or other materials the disclosure of 11 which would constitute a threat to national security. 12 (4) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—For the purpose 13 of carrying out this subsection, section 8E(a)(1)(A) 14 of the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. 15 App.) shall not apply. 16 (c) INSPECTOR GENERAL NOTICE OF INVESTIGATION 17 AND REPORT.— 18 (1) NOTICE OF INVESTIGATION.— 19 (A) IN GENERAL.—Upon opening of the 20 investigation described in subsection (b), the In- 21 spector General shall notify each of the fol- 22 lowing individuals that an oversight investiga- 23 tion subject to this Act has commenced and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:11 Jun 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3028.IH H3028 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 3028 IH that a report will be issued at the conclusion of 1 the Investigation pursuant to this Act: 2 (i) The President of the United 3 States. 4 (ii) The Speaker of the House of Rep- 5 resentatives. 6 (iii) The Minority Leader of the 7 House of Representatives. 8 (iv) The Senate Majority Leader. 9 (v) The Senate Minority Leader. 10 (B) EXCEPTION.—Notwithstanding sub- 11 paragraph (A), the Inspector General for the 12 Department of Justice may decline to submit 13 notice or any other information to an individual 14 described in clauses (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), and (v) 15 of such subparagraph if— 16 (i) the individual is a subject of the 17 investigation described in subsection (a); 18 and 19 (ii) the Inspector General determines 20 that submitting a copy to the individual 21 would compromise the investigation. 22 (2) REPORT.— 23 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days 24 after the conclusion of the investigation de- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:11 Jun 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3028.IH H3028 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 3028 IH scribed in subsection (b), the Inspector General 1 for the Department of Justice shall submit to 2 the Attorney General and each individual de- 3 scribed in clauses (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), and (v) of 4 paragraph (1)(A) a report on the Inspector 5 General’s findings with respect to the oversight 6 investigation contained in subsection (b). 7 (B) IMMEDIATE REPORT ON FLAGRANT OR 8 SERIOUS ISSUES.—During the course of the in- 9 vestigation, if the Attorney General fails within 10 30 days to remedy a serious or flagrant issue 11 raised by the Inspector General, the Inspector 12 General shall make an immediate report to the 13 individuals described in clauses (i), (ii), (iii), 14 (iv), and (v) of paragraph (1)(A) with respect 15 to the serious or flagrant issue. 16 (C) CONFIDENTIALITY.— 17 (i) An individual receiving a report 18 under subparagraph (A) or (B) may not 19 make available to the public or otherwise 20 disclose the contents of the report to any 21 individual other than the Attorney General 22 or an individual described in clauses (i), 23 (ii), (iii), (iv), and (v) of paragraph (1)(A), 24 except in the case that the individual re- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:11 Jun 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3028.IH H3028 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 3028 IH ceiving the report certifies to the Attorney 1 General that it is his or her belief that dis- 2 closure is necessary to uphold the Con- 3 stitution or maintain the integrity of the 4 political system of the United States. 5 (ii) An individual who knowingly and 6 willfully violates clause (i) shall be pun- 7 ished as if under section 798 of title 18, 8 United States Code. 9 (D) RELEASE BY THE ATTORNEY GEN- 10 ERAL.—The Attorney General may release the 11 report after making a determination that public 12 release of the report would be in the public in- 13 terest, to the extent that release would comply 14 with applicable legal restrictions. All other re- 15 leases of information by any Department of 16 Justice employee, including the Office of Gen- 17 eral Inspector staff, shall be governed by the 18 applicable Departmental guidelines concerning 19 public comment with respect to any criminal in- 20 vestigation, and relevant law. 21 (d) COVERED PARTY DEFINED.—In this Act, the 22 term ‘‘covered party’’ means— 23 (1) the President; 24 (2) the Vice President; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:11 Jun 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3028.IH H3028 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 3028 IH (3) a Senator; 1 (4) a Member of Congress; or 2 (5) a candidate for an office described in para- 3 graph (1), (2), (3), or (4) or the campaign of such 4 candidate. 5 SEC. 3. OVERSIGHT OF PREVIOUS INVESTIGATIONS OF 6 CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after the 8 date of enactment of this Act, in the case that a Presi- 9 dential candidate or his or her campaign was the subject 10 of an investigation during the period described in sub- 11 section (d), the Attorney General shall review the inves- 12 tigation to determine whether— 13 (1) the decision to investigate the conduct of 14 the covered party was influenced by political pres- 15 sures or politically motivated objectives; 16 (2) the conduct of the investigation was influ- 17 enced by the political beliefs or motives of any per- 18 son engaged in the investigation or the superiors of 19 such individuals; 20 (3) evidence used in the investigation was ob- 21 tained by lawful means and not tainted by political 22 sources or motives; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:11 Jun 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3028.IH H3028 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 3028 IH (4) warrants obtained or sought in the inves- 1 tigation were supported by probable cause and were 2 in compliance with all applicable law. 3 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 4 of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall make 5 available to the public a report on the result of the review 6 under subsection (a) after any necessary redactions to 7 comply with applicable legal restrictions. 8 (c) APPLICABLE PERIOD.—This section shall apply 9 with respect to any investigation that commenced during 10 the period beginning on June 16, 2015 and ending on 11 March 22, 2019. 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:11 Jun 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3028.IH H3028 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS