U.S. Attorney Reitz Orders Warren to Preserve Records as Oversight Fight Expands
U.S. Attorney Aaron Reitz of the Southern District of Texas on Sunday sent Sen. Elizabeth Warren a formal letter demanding she preserve all records tied to her planned congressional investigations into people and companies linked to President Donald Trump. Reitz wrote that Warren's planned inquiries target private Americans because of their association with Trump and could violate federal civil-rights statutes, citing 18 U.S.C. sections 241 and 242. He asked Warren to confirm in writing by 6 p.m. Eastern on November 23 that she received the letter and has taken steps to preserve the material, warning that failure to do so could bring sanctions.
The letter cited Warren's November 8 appearance on CBS's "Face the Nation," a Time magazine opinion piece, and a joint letter she signed with Sen. Richard Blumenthal and Rep. Robert Garcia seeking information from a private Trump fundraiser. Warren is expected to chair the Senate Banking Committee after Democrats' midterm gains and has signaled plans to investigate big technology chief executives, Wall Street executives, Trump family businesses and donors to the White House ballroom project. White House communications director Steven Cheung backed Reitz on Sunday.
It was the third such letter from Reitz in recent days, following similar demands to Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Elissa Slotkin. Attorney General Todd Blanche said on November 12 that the Justice Department had no ongoing criminal investigations into lawmakers' words. The letter did not say whether a formal criminal investigation of Warren has been opened, and Warren has not publicly responded.
Source: U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
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