Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), Chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties, today questioned expert witnesses at a full Committee hearing on “Secrecy Orders and Prosecuting Leaks: Potential Legislative Responses to Deter Prosecutorial Abuse of Power.”
In his questioning of witnesses, Congressman Cohen expressed concern about what he called “the intrusions on Congress and the press and the gag orders” revealed in reporting by The New York Times involving the Trump Administration Department of Justice. Congressman Cohen, who stated that he had faith in Merrick Garland and his new team at Justice, however
requested information about whether the new administration was aware of the subpoenas for the private records of Members of Congress and whether it planned to make it public before the stories were published.
See his exchange with the witnesses here.
Witnesses at today’s hearing were:
- Mr. Tom Burt
Corporate Vice President, Customer Security & Trust, Microsoft Corporation;
- Ms. Eve Burton
Executive Vice President & Chief Legal Officer, Hearst Corporation;
- Ms. Lynn Oberlander
Of Counsel, Ballard Spahr LLP;
- Mr. Jonathan Turley
J.B. and Maurice C. Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law, The George Washington University Law School.
