‘SHELOON WHITEHOUSE tpihitehove set gor RHODE ISLAND a) ot 201 coer, “td Stas Sate ES December 15, 2017 The Honorable Chuck Grassley Chairman Senate Committee on the Judiciary 224 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 Dear Chairman Grassley: ‘Thank you for your letter of December 13. ‘Two facts present themselves to the Judiciary Committee. One is the fact of a news report stating that a Republican Senator was “nudged” by the President to direct investigation toward any relationship between Hillary Clinton and Fusion GPS. | have no idea who that Senator is, and accept your assurance that itis not you, but it certainly leaves a big question, to which itis, not unreasonable for our Committee to expect an answer. Who is that Senator, and has the “nudge” influenced our work? ‘The other and more important fact is the plentiful and undisputed testimony from national security experts that the Russians are not done with election interferenc« America. Just today, the Washington Post reports that the President's desire to quash a federal investigation has “impaired” our response to a national security threat, and that the “repercussions radiate across the government.” ‘The best measure of our committee’s success is an America defended against foreign election interference in time to protect the 2018 elections. I do not see us presently on a path to meet that goal. Congressional investigations should clarify the threat our country faces in support of our legislative work to address it, and not obfuscate by elevating peripheral issues. Perhaps it is the position of the Judiciary Committee that no further legislative remedies are required. We should at least have that discussion, because if there are, we need to engage with a sense of urgency and bipartisan cooperation, as we are less than a year out from Election Day. As always, I stand ready to work with you in this important task. Sincerely, Sheldon Whitehouse United States Senator