Judiciary to request documents

House Judiciary to request documents from Trump Jr., dozens in administration

By Veronica Stracqualursi

The House Judiciary Committee will request documents on Monday from President Donald Trump's oldest son, his business and more than 60 individuals in his administration, the panel's chair said Sunday.

In an interview with ABC News' "This Week," Rep. Jerry Nadler said the requests for documents are to "begin investigations, to present the case to the American people about obstruction of justice, about corruption and abuse of power."

The New York Democrat said the full list of individuals and entities would be released Monday, but he mentioned Donald Trump Jr. and Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg.

Nadler also said the list would likely include former White House chief of staff John Kelly and former White House counsel Don McGahn.

"Impeachment's a long way down the road," said Nadler, whose panel would begin any impeachment process. "We don't have the facts yet, but we're going to initiate the proper investigations."

Asked if he thought President Trump had obstructed justice, Nadler replied, "Yes, I do. It's very clear that the President obstructed justice."

Nadler's Democratic colleague on the House Judiciary committee, Rep. Eric Swalwell of California, said they would learn a lot more over the next few weeks.

"This is not the only problem (Trump) faces," he told CNN's Ana Cabrera on Sunday afternoon. "There's a whole list of things that he has done that we'll be looking at."

Since taking power in the wake of November's midterm elections, House Democrats have vowed to investigate Trump's presidency and business as they await the special counsel Robert Mueller investigation's findings.

As special counsel Robert Mueller wraps up his Russia probe, federal investigators have focused on conflicting public statements by President Trump and his team that could be seen as an effort to influence witnesses and obstruct justice, people familiar with the investigation told CNN.

Critics pointed to the President's firing of then-FBI Director James Comey in 2017 as a potential obstruction of justice, as Trump told NBC News he was thinking about the Russia investigation when he decided to remove Comey.

Besides Comey's firing, prosecutors appear to be examining Trump's role in crafting the misleading Air Force One statement in 2017 on the now-infamous June 2016 Trump Tower meeting with Russians attended by Trump Jr.

Another episode centers on Trump's attempt to have his then-White House counsel McGahn dispute news reports that he threatened to quit over Trump's pressure to oust Mueller, CNN previously reported.

Weisselberg was granted immunity in August by federal prosecutors for providing information on former Trump attorney Michael Cohen's role in hush money payments to women alleging affairs with Trump. He has repeatedly denied having affairs with the women.

But Cohen's hearing before the House Judiciary Committee last week piqued congressional Democrats' interest in hearing from Weisselberg, as Cohen said the Trump Organization official had insight into Trump's tax filings.