THE REPORT -- Bernie Sanders Releases Internal HHS Emails

What Democrats Are Doing to Hold Trump 2.0 Accountable

Welcome to this week’s edition of THE REPORT. Every Wednesday, The Watchdog Report will give a quick look at the oversight actions taken by Democrats in Congress and outside allies.

• Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), has released internal emails from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) showing Secretary Robert F Kennedy, Jr.’s politicization of HHS, willingness to ignore vaccine science and undermine the basic health and safety of Americans.

• U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, led all Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats in pressing Todd Blanche for answers on dozens of oversight matters that remain outstanding, either due to no response, insufficient response, or only partial response from DOJ.

• Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, announced that he will file a discharge petition on Friday in an effort to force a House vote on his legislation to permanently block Trump’s effort to create a $1.8 billion taxpayer-funded slush fund for January 6 rioters and political sycophants, prevent any such future corrupt payouts, and terminate the unprecedented “Super Pardon” bestowed by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche upon the President, his family and all of their businesses, on all matters, for all time, as a part of an illegal “settlement” agreement in Trump, v. IRS. These provisions of Trump’s “settlement” agreement—executed by his former personal attorney, Todd Blanche, who also oversees the Justice Department—have been widely criticized across party lines, both in and outside of Congress.

• U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), along with Representative Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.), opened an investigation into reports that Softbank Group’s (Softbank) recently donated $50 million to the Trump Presidential Library — the largest publicly disclosed contribution to the Library and a possible attempt to curry political favor.

• Warren, Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, Jack Reed (D-RI), and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) sent a letter to Michael Horowitz, the Inspector General at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, calling for an investigation into Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman’s recent decision to speak and answer questions at a closed-door dinner on Wall Street during the Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) “blackout period.”

• Rep. Robert Garcia, Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, released the following statement after Leon Black, billionaire and primary client of Jeffrey Epstein, stormed out of his transcribed interview with the Committee when asked about non-disclosure agreements.

  “Leon Black had a chance to do the right thing and help us bring justice to the survivors. Instead, he ran out of the room when he was pressed for information about his non-disclosure agreements with women and his relationship with survivors of Jeffrey Epstein. He has now been subpoenaed and must provide real answers to the Committee. He will be held accountable if he doesn’t comply with our investigation.”