Ryan declines to back calls to hold Sessions in contempt

Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) on Tuesday said he hasn’t spoken to House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) about his call to hold Attorney General Jeff Sessions in contempt of Congress, but did call on the Justice Department to release classified documents related to the Russia investigation.

“We expect the administration to comply with our document requests as a matter of form for the executive branch and our legislative branch oversight,” Ryan said. “So I haven’t spoken with Devin about this, we have a thorough process we go through, but we clearly expect the administration to honor our document requests.”

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Other members of GOP leadership have also expressed concern over the Justice Department’s decision to withhold the information but stopped short of calling for Sessions to be held in contempt. 

“The Department of Justice has to turn over the documents that Congress has requested, and they’ve seen a lot of serious questions raised about what we’ve uncovered so far,” House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) said Monday. “So, I’m not sure what they have to hide, but they have to comply with the law just like everybody else.”

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said “there’s a frustration with a lot of members” on how long the investigation into Russian meddling in the presidential election has been taking and the Justice Department’s refusal to comply with the subpoena.

“I’d like to see the information come to the House,” he said.

Nunes said during an appearance on “Fox & Friends” Sunday that “the only thing left to do” is hold Sessions in contempt after concluding the Justice Department isn’t going to comply with his request for documents pertaining to the special counsel’s Russia investigation.