{"bills":[{"photos":{"featured":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/s1915-116/featured_security-from-political-interference-in-justice-act-of-2019-1562122903.jpg","featured_large":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/s1915-116/featured_large_security-from-political-interference-in-justice-act-of-2019-1562122903.jpg","shareable":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/bills/s1915-116.png"},"introduced_on":"2019-06-20","title_override":"Should Contacts Between the White House & Justice Dept. About Investigations Be Logged?","summary_override":"

This bill — the Security from Political Interference in Justice Act of 2019 — seeks 1) to establish the norm of the Dept. of Justice’s (DOJ) independence and 2) increase transparency and accountability in the relationship between the White House and the DOJ relative to ongoing or potential investigations. A breakdown of its various provisions can be found below.

Specifically, this bill would:

Require both the White House and DOJ to log all communications between White House and DOJ officials and staff pertaining to specific cases or investigations that DOJ might undertake. The log would include: 1) the names of participants in the communication, 2) the topics of the communications, and 3) a statement describing the purpose and necessity of the communication.
Require that the logs be disclosed Congress, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) and the DOJ’s Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) every six months.
Direct OIG and OPR to review the logs and to notify Congress if any of the logged communications are inappropriate from a law enforcement perspective or raise concerns about improper political interference.

Certain top-level contacts are exempt from disclosure to Congress, but such contacts would have to be logged, shared with OIG and OPR, and disclosed in response to a Congressional subpoena. Both the logging and disclosure requirements would remain in place irrespective of the White House and/or DOJ’s internal contacts policies.

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I hear politicians eloquently argue for one side of an issue and later, when it’s to their benefit, just as eloquently argue for the opposite side. OK, so they are good at arguing- but what is that they actually believe? What is it that they actually stand for? An honorable person has values that persist even when it is not convenient or expedient. An honorable person has a moral compass that stops them from doing something wrong even if it is not illegal. 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Should Contacts Between the White House & Justice Dept. About Investigations Be Logged?