The statute doesn’t say subpoena, but a court order (there is a difference). Notice too that it gives the department latitude in responding to court orders as being from ‘competent jurisdiction.’ IOW, they could probably ignore out-of-state court orders.
In any event, it would be nice if someone would at least try this method like 74 plaintiffs have tried civil suits thus far. None have succeeded but folks keep on trying.
I’d like to see someone try the criminal side as well as the civil side.
A court of competent jurisdicition is, in general any court having jurisdiction over the offense being investigated or the persons being investigated. A department or agency can turn down a subpoena if they think the court in question fails to show competent jurisdiction. So far, several officials in Hawaii have been willing to go to bat to keep Obama’s birth records secret. I could this requiring a federal court order before Hawaii would comply, but we know this won’t happen because we know who controls the justice department.