The Justice Department on Monday refused to provide the House Judiciary Committee with further details about the special counsel investigation into the mishandling of classified documents found at President Joe Biden's home and a former office.
The DOJ claims that doing so would risk releasing information central to the case, The Hill reported.
The House committee, chaired by Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, sought all documents and communications related to the investigation. The panel's request included correspondence involving Biden's attorneys and those related to the appointment of a special counsel.
"Your letter also requests non-public information that is central to the ongoing Special Counsel investigation," DOJ wrote in the letter obtained by The Hill and first reported by Politico. "The Department's longstanding policy is to maintain the confidentiality of such information regarding open matters.
"Disclosures to Congress about active investigations risk jeopardizing those investigations and creating the appearance that Congress may be exerting improper political pressure or attempting to influence Department decisions in certain cases."
Attorney General Merrick Garland has appointed special counsels to the investigations into the discovery of classified documents at Biden's home and at former President Donald Trump's Florida home.
The documents found at Biden's Wilmington, Delaware, home and at a former office were from the president's time as vice president in the Obama administration.
The DOJ said satisfying Jordan's request would require a significant disclosure during an ongoing investigation, something the department says clashes with its internal policies. It also would go against special counsel regulations limiting what information can be shared with lawmakers.
"Disclosing non-public information about ongoing investigations could violate statutory requirements or court orders, reveal road maps of our investigations, and interfere with the Department's ability to gather facts, interview witnesses, and bring criminal prosecutions where warranted," the department said, The Hill reported.
DOJ added it needs to protect the confidentiality of those "implicated by, or who assist in, our investigations."
Jordan spokesman Russell Dye described the DOJ's response as being political.
"Our Members are rightly concerned about the Justice Department's double standard here, after all, some of the Biden documents were found at a think tank that's received funds from communist China," Dye said in a statement, The Hill reported. "It's concerning, to say the least, that the Department is more interested in playing politics than cooperating."
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