Security from Political Interference in Justice Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1915 To require the recording and reporting of communications between the De- partment of Justice and the White House relating to civil and criminal investigations, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 20, 2019 Mr. WHITEHOUSE (for himself, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, and Ms. HARRIS) intro- duced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee on the Judiciary A BILL To require the recording and reporting of communications between the Department of Justice and the White House relating to civil and criminal investigations, 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 ‘‘Security from Political 4 Interference in Justice Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act— 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:34 Jun 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1915.IS S1915 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 1915 IS (1) the term ‘‘communications log’’ means the 1 log required to be maintained under section 3(a); 2 (2) the term ‘‘covered communication’’— 3 (A) means any communication relating to 4 an ongoing investigation conducted by the De- 5 partment of Justice in any civil or criminal 6 matter (regardless of whether a civil action or 7 criminal indictment or information has been 8 filed); and 9 (B) does not include a communication 10 that— 11 (i) relates solely to policy, appoint- 12 ments, legislation, rulemaking, budgets, 13 public relations, programmatic matters, 14 intergovernmental relations, administrative 15 or personnel matters, appellate litigation, 16 or requests for legal advice; and 17 (ii) does not relate to an ongoing in- 18 vestigation described in subparagraph (A); 19 and 20 (3) the term ‘‘investigative office’’ means— 21 (A) the Office of the Inspector General of 22 the Department of Justice; and 23 (B) the Office of Professional Responsi- 24 bility of the Department of Justice. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:34 Jun 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1915.IS S1915 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 1915 IS SEC. 3. COMMUNICATIONS LOGS. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Counsel to the President and 2 the Attorney General shall each maintain a log of any cov- 3 ered communication between— 4 (1) an officer or employee of the Department of 5 Justice; and 6 (2) an officer or employee of the Executive Of- 7 fice of the President. 8 (b) CONTENTS.—A communications log shall include, 9 with respect to a covered communication— 10 (1) the name and title of each officer or em- 11 ployee of the Department of Justice or the Executive 12 Office of the President who participated in the cov- 13 ered communication; 14 (2) the topic of the covered communication; and 15 (3) a statement describing the purpose and ne- 16 cessity of the covered communication. 17 (c) OVERSIGHT.— 18 (1) PERIODIC DISCLOSURE OF LOGS.— 19 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara- 20 graph (B), not later than January 30 and July 21 30 of each year, the Attorney General shall sub- 22 mit to Congress and each investigative office a 23 report containing the communications log for 24 the 6-month period preceding that January or 25 July. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:34 Jun 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1915.IS S1915 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 1915 IS (B) RECORDS OF CERTAIN COMMUNICA- 1 TIONS.— 2 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney Gen- 3 eral shall exclude from the report sub- 4 mitted to Congress under subparagraph 5 (A) any record of a covered communication 6 in which any of the following officials par- 7 ticipated: 8 (I) The President. 9 (II) The Vice President. 10 (III) The Counsel to the Presi- 11 dent. 12 (IV) The Counselor to the Presi- 13 dent. 14 (V) The Attorney General. 15 (VI) The Deputy Attorney Gen- 16 eral. 17 (VII) The Associate Attorney 18 General. 19 (ii) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The 20 exclusion of certain records under clause 21 (i) from the report to Congress under sub- 22 paragraph (A) shall not be construed to— 23 (I) exclude those records from 24 the report to the investigative offices 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:34 Jun 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1915.IS S1915 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 1915 IS under subparagraph (A) or the review 1 and notice requirements under para- 2 graph (2); or 3 (II) protect those records from 4 congressional subpoena. 5 (2) NOTICE OF INAPPROPRIATE OR IMPROPER 6 COMMUNICATIONS.—The head of an investigative of- 7 fice shall— 8 (A) review each communications log re- 9 ceived under paragraph (1)(A); and 10 (B) notify Congress if the office head de- 11 termines that a covered communication de- 12 scribed in the communications log— 13 (i) is inappropriate from a law en- 14 forcement perspective; or 15 (ii) raises concerns about improper 16 political interference. 17 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:34 Jun 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1915.IS S1915 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS