House GOP leaders demand Justice Department inspector general probe leaks surrounding Flynn

Source: The Washington Post



By Karoun Demirjian February 15 at 10:36 PM

House Republican leaders are pressing the Justice Department’s inspector general to investigate whether officials “mishandled” classified information, including leaked communications between members of the Russian government and the Trump administration that brought about Michael T. Flynn’s resignation as national security adviser.

In a letter to the inspector general, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) demanded “an immediate investigation” into whether the leaks broke protocol. They cited “serious concerns about the potential inadequate protection of classified information,” pointing to news reports about monitored calls between Flynn and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, and discussions that former acting attorney general Sally Q. Yates had with White House Counsel Donald McGahn about them.

“Generally, collection activities by intelligence agencies are classified,” Chaffetz and Goodlatte wrote, arguing that the act of monitoring Flynn’s call, the substance of the call, and any warrants sought to monitor Russian bank records were also probably classified.

“The release of classified national security information can, by definition, have grave effects on national security,” they wrote, stressing that their committees had the right to launch an investigation.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2017/02/15/house-gop-leaders-demand-justice-department-ig-probe-leaks-surrounding-flynn/?utm_term=.c2e3484c0abc&wpisrc=nl_politics&wpmm=1