Gowdy threatens to subpoena DOJ, USDA over officials' air travel

By KYLE CHENEY 10/18/2017 03:04 PM EDT

House Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy on Wednesday threatened to subpoena the Department of Justice and Department of Agriculture for failing to adequately respond to a bipartisan inquiry on the use of private jets by senior officials.

In a letter to leaders of the two cabinet agencies, the South Carolina Republican and the committee's top Democrat, Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), said both departments missed their Oct. 10 deadline to provide documents detailing the use of charter jets and other taxpayer-funded flights for officials' personal travel.

The lawmakers said they’re prepared to issue a subpoena for documents detailing any such travel if the committee doesn't receive answers by Oct. 31. It's an escalation of scrutiny that comes after POLITICO detailed hundreds of thousands of dollars in charter jet travel by Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, who resigned last month amid the controversy. Since then, reports have followed about the costly travel choices by several other Trump cabinet secretaries.

Gowdy's subpoena threat follows a bipartisan request for details on travel from 24 federal departments, as well as from the West Wing, issued by the committee on Sept. 26. DOJ and the Agriculture Department were the only two deemed non-compliant.

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http://www.politico.com/story/2017/10/18/trey-gowdy-subpoena-threat-private-jet-travel-243912