Say it aint so
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- Jun 19, 2020
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The Congressional Subpoena usage as a GOP party platform
In 1997, the Republican majority on the committee changed its rules to allow the chair, Dan Burton (R-Indiana), to issue subpoenas without the consent of the committee's ranking Democrat.[23] From 1997 to 2002, Burton used this authority to issue 1,052 unilateral subpoenas, many of them related to alleged misconduct by President Bill Clinton, at a cost of more than $35 million.[24]
By contrast, from 2003 to 2005, under Tom Davis (R-Virginia) as chair, the committee issued only three subpoenas to the Bush administration.[24]
After Republicans retook the House in the 2010 elections, the new chair, Darrell Issa (R-California), escalated the use of subpoenas again, issuing more than 100 in four years during the Obama administration.[25] That was more than the combined total issued by the previous three chairs—Davis, Henry Waxman (D-California), and Edolphus Towns (D-New York)—from 2003 to 2010.[26]
In July 2025 James Comer subpoenaed convicted paedophile Ghislaine Maxwell to testify before the committee,[27] ultimately prompting her transfer to the federal penitentiary with the least security in the US after her interview with Deputy Attorney-General Todd Blanche.[28][29] It was remarked by Lawrence O'Donnell in August 2025 that among former justice department leaders on Comer's list, Alexander Acosta's name was absent.[30] --WIKI
This isn't about potential congressional legislation, it is a GOP political tool.
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