DOJ denies House conservatives’ request to review Mueller’s directive

The Department of Justice has declined a request from members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus to view an unredacted memo detailing the scope of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.

Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd told the lawmakers in a letter on Wednesday that turning over the memo would “threaten the integrity” of Mueller’s ongoing investigation into possible collusion between President Trump’s campaign and Russia, according to a copy of the correspondence obtained by The Hill.

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“Although we are working to accommodate the requests of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in a number of oversight matters, we cannot provide the requested information pertaining to the Special Counsel’s ongoing investigation consistent with longstanding principles of investigatory independence,” Boyd wrote in the letter, which was first reported by the Washington Examiner.

A redacted version of the August memo signed by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, which was made public in court filings, authorizes the Mueller investigation and directs Mueller to investigate whether Trump campaign officials “committed a crime or crimes by colluding with Russian government officials.”

Mueller’s team is authorized to pursue any and all criminal charges uncovered by the investigation.

On Tuesday, Rosenstein warned GOP lawmakers against pressuring the Justice Department, saying that the agency would not be “extorted” by Congress.

“There have been people who have been making threats privately and publicly against me for quite some time and I think they should understand by now the Department of Justice is not going to be extorted,” he said.

“If he believes being asked to do his job is ‘extortion,’ then Rod Rosenstein should step aside and allow us to find a new Deputy Attorney General — preferably one who is interested in transparency,” Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), the chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, tweeted in response.

Representatives for the caucus did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill.

Olivia Beavers contributed to this report, which was updated at 3:38 p.m.