Trump v. Oversight, Case No. 19-cv-01136 (APM)

Citation380 F.Supp.3d 76
Decision Date20 May 2019
Docket NumberCase No. 19-cv-01136 (APM)
Parties Donald J. TRUMP, et al., Plaintiffs, v. COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND REFORM OF the U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, et al., Defendants.
CourtUnited States District Courts. United States District Court (Columbia)

William S. Consovoy, Consovoy McCarthy Park PLLC, Arlington, VA, for Plaintiffs.

Henry Frederick Schuelke, III, Lawrence H. Wechsler, Blank Rome, LLP, Washington, DC, Jerry Daniel Bernstein, Pro Hac Vice, Blank Rome, LLP, New York, NY, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Amit P. Mehta, United States District Court Judge

I. INTRODUCTION
I do, therefore, ... solemnly protest against these proceedings of the House of Representatives, because they are in violation of the rights of the coordinate executive branch of the Government, and subversive of its constitutional independence; because they are calculated to foster a band of interested parasites and informers, ever ready, for their own advantage, to swear before ex parte committees to pretended private conversations between the President and themselves, incapable, from their nature, of being disproved; thus furnishing material for harassing him, degrading him in the eyes of the country ...
- President James Buchanan1

These words, written by President James Buchanan in March 1860, protested a resolution adopted by the U.S. House of Representatives to form a committee—known as the Covode Committee—to investigate whether the President or any other officer of the Executive Branch had sought to influence the actions of Congress by improper means. See Buchanan at 218–21. Buchanan "cheerfully admitted" that the House of Representatives had the authority to make inquiries "incident to their legislative duties," as "necessary to enable them to discover and to provide the appropriate legislative remedies for any abuses which may be ascertained." Id. at 221. But he objected to the Covode Committee's investigation of his conduct. He maintained that the House of Representatives possessed no general powers to investigate him, except when sitting as an impeaching body. Id. Buchanan feared that, if the House were to exercise such authority, it "would establish a precedent dangerous and embarrassing to all my successors, to whatever political party they might be attached." Id. at 226.

Some 160 years later, President Donald J. Trump has taken up the fight of his predecessor. On April 15, 2019, the Committee on Oversight and Reform of the House of Representatives issued a subpoena for records to Mazars USA LLP, a firm that has provided accounting services to President Trump. The subpoena called for Mazars to produce financial records and other documents relating to President Trump personally as well as various associated businesses and entities dating back to 2011—years before he declared his candidacy for office. The decision to issue the subpoena came about after the President's former lawyer and confidant, Michael Cohen, testified before the House Oversight Committee that the President routinely would alter the estimated value of his assets and liabilities on financial statements, depending on the purpose for which a statement was needed. For instance, Cohen said that the President provided inflated financial statements to a bank to obtain a loan to purchase a National Football League franchise. But when it came time to calculate his real estate taxes, the President would deflate the value of certain assets. To support his accusations, Cohen produced financial statements from 2011, 2012, and 2013, at least two of which were prepared by Mazars.

Echoing the protests of President Buchanan, President Trump and his associated entities are before this court, claiming that the Oversight Committee's subpoena to Mazars exceeds the Committee's constitutional power to conduct investigations. The President argues that there is no legislative purpose for the subpoena. The Oversight Committee's true motive, the President insists, is to collect personal information about him solely for political advantage. He asks the court to declare the Mazars subpoena invalid and unenforceable.

Courts have grappled for more than a century with the question of the scope of Congress's investigative power. The binding principle that emerges from these judicial decisions is that courts must presume Congress is acting in furtherance of its constitutional responsibility to legislate and must defer to congressional judgments about what Congress needs to carry out that purpose. To be sure, there are limits on Congress's investigative authority. But those limits do not substantially constrain Congress. So long as Congress investigates on a subject matter on which "legislation could be had," Congress acts as contemplated by Article I of the Constitution.

Applying those principles here compels the conclusion that President Trump cannot block the subpoena to Mazars. According to the Oversight Committee, it believes that the requested records will aid its consideration of strengthening ethics and disclosure laws, as well as amending the penalties for violating such laws. The Committee also says that the records will assist in monitoring the President's compliance with the Foreign Emoluments Clauses. These are facially valid legislative purposes, and it is not for the court to question whether the Committee's actions are truly motivated by political considerations. Accordingly, the court will enter judgment in favor of the Oversight Committee.

II. BACKGROUND
A. The 116th Congress and the House Oversight Committee

On January 3, 2019, the 116th Congress began with the Democratic Party controlling a majority of seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. One of the House's first actions was to adopt the "Rules of the House of Representatives," which govern proceedings during the two-year term. This vote took place on January 9, 2019.2 Rule X of the adopted House Rules, titled "Organization of Committees," establishes various standing committees and their respective jurisdictions.3 Among the standing committees with the broadest purview is the Committee on Oversight and Reform ("Oversight Committee"). Its subject areas of primary jurisdiction range from the lofty—"[o]verall economy, efficiency, and management of government operations"—to the mundane—"[f]ederal paperwork reduction." House Rules at 8. If there is a common thread running through the subjects within the Oversight Committee's jurisdiction, it is the oversight of the operations and administration of the Executive Branch.

Each of the House's standing committees possess "[g]eneral oversight responsibilities." Id. at 9. Those responsibilities are meant to assist the House in (1) "its analysis, appraisal, and evaluation of" "the application, administration, execution, and effectiveness of Federal laws" and (2) "conditions and circumstances that may indicate the necessity or desirability of enacting new or additional legislation," and (3) "its formulation, consideration, and enactment of changes in Federal laws, and of such additional legislation as may be necessary or appropriate." Id. Some of the House's standing committees have "[s]pecial oversight functions." Id. at 10. The Oversight Committee is one of them. Its "special oversight function" is described as involving the "review and study on a continuing basis the operation of Government activities at all levels, including the Executive Office of the President." Id. The Executive Office of the President consists of a small group of federal agencies that most immediately aid the President on matters of policy, politics, administration, and management. The President's closest advisors typically are situated in the Executive Office.4

Rule X also vests the Oversight Committee with special authority to conduct investigations. According to the Rule, "the Committee on Oversight and Reform may at any time conduct investigations of any matter without regard to [other rules] conferring jurisdiction over the matter to another standing committee." House Rules at 11 (emphasis added). In other words, the Oversight Committee is empowered to investigate as to any subject matter, even in those areas that are expressly assigned to other committees. No other committee possesses such sweeping investigative authority.

The Oversight Committee's broad investigative power is not new. In each of the four preceding Congresses—all controlled by the Republican Party, including during the final six years of the Obama Administration—the House Oversight Committee enjoyed the same power "at any time [to] conduct investigations of any matter."5

B. The Oversight Committee's Investigation

From the start of the 116th Congress, the Oversight Committee, now led by a Democrat, moved aggressively to use its investigative powers. It did not adopt a resolution or issue a public statement defining the scope of what it intended to investigate. Instead, it sent a series of letters to the White House and elsewhere seeking various records regarding the President's personal finances, as well as records concerning his businesses and related entities. For instance, days before the new Congress started, the incoming Chairman of the Oversight Committee, Representative Elijah Cummings, wrote the President's personal lawyer, Sheri Dillon, and the Executive Vice President and Chief Compliance Counsel of the Trump Organization, George Sorial, asking them to produce previously requested "documents regarding the Trump Organization's process for identifying payments from foreign governments and foreign-government controlled entities ..."6 In a different letter, the Chairman asked the General Services Administration ("GSA"), the agency that manages federally owned and leased buildings, to produce records concerning the federal government's lease with the Trump Organization for the Old Post Office Building, which houses the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C.7 Chairman Cummings indicated that he sought these records for multiple...

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    ...compilation and auditing of such statements and reports. See Decl. of William S. Consovoy, Ex. A at 3, Trump v. Committee on Oversight and Reform of the United States House of Representatives , 380 F. Supp. 3d 76 (D.D.C. 2019), ECF No. 9-2, aff'd , Trump v. Mazars USA, LLP , 940 F.3d 710 (D......
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