Dem senators accuse Trump of purposefully holding back information

[babylonsister]

http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/334880-dem-senators-accuse-trump-of-purposefully-holding-back-info-report

Dem senators accuse Trump of purposefully holding back information
By Olivia Beavers - 05/24/17 08:26 AM EDT


Senate Democrats claimed Wednesday the Trump administration has instructed federal agencies to not cooperate with their inquiries on issues ranging from the Russia probe to ethics waivers for senior administration officials.

"We write to express our concerns with recent reports that the White House may have instructed certain Federal agencies to refuse requests for information from Democratic members of Congress," the Democratic senators wrote in a letter first reported by The Washington Post.

The lawmakers added that if true, such instruction “would be a significant departure from the practices of past Administrations and seriously inhibit Congress’s ability to fulfill its legislative and oversight duties.”

The senators urge President Trump to order the agencies to answer their requests for information “in a timely and consequential matter.”

The White House and other administration officials did not return the newspaper's requests for comment.

“The fact that they just turn their back on oversight is part of a deeper syndrome, which is no respect for separation of powers, no respect for how the Constitution set up our government. It’s going to hurt the country, and it’s going to hurt them,” Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), a signee, told the Post.

“There are other things that we can do, and we’re exploring them. We have the floor of the Senate,” he continued.

Other senators who penned the letter also include Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), and Tom Carper (D-Del.).

Updated: 11:32 a.m.

[Eliot Rosewater]

1. Trump and his voters hate our government and want to destroy it.