The left-leaning watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) sent a blistering letter to House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) on Thursday, accusing him of abuse of congressional power.
The letter, which also went out to House Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-KY), highlighted what Crew said in a statement constituted "real harm to the American people" being done by political manipulation of oversight authority.
"When oversight is misused for partisan aims, we know that it can chill the exercise of lawful activities in both government and civil society, whether such an effect is intended or accidental," stated the letter, written by CREW director Noah Bookbinder. "Your committee’s oversight activities have done just that and, in the process, have caused real-world harm."
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Among the abuses cited by the letter include threatening academic outfits into stopping research on internet disinformation, which the letter warns could violate the First Amendment; interfering with the DOJ's attempts to investigate violent threats against school board officials and corruption at the right-wing Federalist Society; and threatening antitrust enforcement against insurers who underwrite climate change risk.
"Instead of pursuing this illegitimate oversight agenda, your committees should work on bipartisan reforms such as improving oversight of the Bureau of Prisons, investigating the Department of Defense for potential violations of the Emoluments Clause, and mandating that the White House disclose information about official visits to the White House and other locations frequented by the president," said the letter. "The harms described above represent just a snapshot of how your committees’ so-called oversight efforts have had ripple effects across society."
"Congressional oversight should be used to uncover corruption, tackle financial waste and make the government run better – not for illegitimate, politically motivated attacks," the letter concluded.
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