Letter to the Members of the Executive Cabinet - Trump Cabinet Officials Ignore Harris & Blumenthal Demands to Protect Whistleblowers and Preserve Evidence of Wrongdoing

Letter

Last week, we wrote to you regarding multiple, credible allegations of wrongdoing on the part of administration officials, including the President of the United States. It is critical to the proper functioning of our government that these allegations be fully investigated and that all responsible parties be held accountable.

As former attorneys general and current members of the United States Senate, we asked you to answer questions about your efforts to protect whistleblowers and safeguard the independence of inspector general investigations. Your timely response to our questions is critical to safeguarding the integrity of investigations into alleged wrongdoing by government officials and to restoring Americans' faith in their government. We are therefore dismayed that you have yet to respond with the information requested by the deadline of October 16th.

Again, we urge you to take the following immediate steps to ensure your departments' full compliance with the current or future investigations conducted by Congressional oversight committees and inspectors general:

Order all department personnel to identify, preserve and collect records related to on-going investigations. This must include the recovery and preservation of all relevant communications on personal devices by government officials.
Provide all information and documents within your respective department in relation to any operation or investigation over which Congress or the respective inspector general has responsibility, unless explicitly prohibited by law.
Report any effort within your department or the White House to interfere with, intimidate, or otherwise obstruct an investigation by the relevant inspector general or Congress.
Additionally, we again ask that you answer the following questions:

The Department of Defense ordered its staff to assist with "identifying, preserving, and collecting documents and other records" related to said investigations. Have you or your departments issued similar directives? If not, why?
What efforts have been made to obtain relevant communications that took place on personal devices? If none, why?
Has the president or anyone at the White House ever made a request or suggestion, whether implied or explicit, that you or other department personnel ignore or fail to comply with any inspector general request, audit, review or investigation?
Has the president or anyone at the White House ever made a request or suggestion, whether implied or explicit, that you or other department personnel interfere with the transmission to Congress of materials related to an inspector general audit, investigation or any other work product?
The recent allegations of wrongdoing raise serious concerns about the integrity of our government and demand your prompt action. We therefore request your response by Monday, October 21, 2019.

Sincerely,

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