Pelosi calls 2 former ministers to testify
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US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says that "what the Trump administration, the Department of Justice and the former president's team have done exceeds even Richard Nixon," referring to the "Watergate" scandal.
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Pelosi will decide Monday whether to appoint a special committee to investigate the storming of the Capitol by Trump supporters.
US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi demanded on Sunday that two former attorney generals from the administration of former President Donald Trump testify in a "rogue" attempt by the department, as she described it, to secretly obtain information on Democratic officials and the media.
"What the administration did, the Justice Department, the leadership of the former President goes even beyond Richard Nixon. Richard Nixon had an enemies list. This is about undermining the rule of law," Pelosi told CNN, referring to the "Watergate" scandal that toppled the former US president.
On Friday, Democratic officials expressed their displeasure over reports that the Trump-era Justice Department had secretly monitored Democrats investigating "possible collusion between the former president's administration and Russia."
In addition, it obtained the phone records of Trump's political opponents and even their family members, including one of the children, considering that this constitutes an unprecedented abuse of power.
The ministry also obtained phone records of CNN reporters, the Washington Post, and the New York Times without their knowledge.
In a surprising development Sunday, the New York Times reported that the Department of Justice issued a 2018 subpoena for Donald McGahn's records, who served as a liaison between the president and the Department of Justice as a White House adviser.
The California Democrat believes that former Attorneys General Jeff Sessions and William Barr, as well as former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, should testify.
Both Sessions and Barr have recently denied knowledge of any classified subpoenas.
"This is about undermining the rule of law," Pelosi said Sunday, adding: "And for attorneys general Barr and Sessions, that they said they knew nothing about it was unbelievable."
"So, they must testify under oath," she asserted. When asked if she would summon the two ministers if necessary, Pelosi said she hoped they would "respect the rule of law."
And she continued, "The Department of Justice was a rogue under President Trump, and I understood that in many ways."
Pelosi considered it necessary to determine whether those involved in this operation, whose targets included Democratic Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, were still in the Department of Justice.
"No matter who's president, whatever party, this cannot be the way it goes," she said.
Pelosi said for the first time that she would be open to establishing a select committee to probe the January 6 riot at the US Capitol if attempts to create an independent 9/11-style commission remain stalled.
"This is an attack on our democracy and the Capitol; the American people deserve and must get answers," she said.
