I really wish we were well informed on exactly what congressional oversight actually means, especially over the JD and the FBI, in terms of the right to know classified information, how much, and when they can demand it, or else.
We are led to believe in this era that there is no oversight, whatsoever, and it’s already proven there is no accountability and no consequences. These departments refuse documents, scoff at subpoenas, ignore “Contempt of Congress” citations (Eric Holder).
Congress looks like a fool in every single case.
There is absolutely no use for oversight if the departments are accountable to no one, delay everything on their own volition, supply perfunctory letter heads with rezacted pages of air, delay appearances and if they do show up, their witnesses are armed with the Fifth, or lawyers that laugh at the Committee. It’s humiliating to watch.
Congress could pass a law to fix the futility of its hearings, by creating its own Congressional court and rules for testimony in Congressional hearings that had an arbiter and a person with authority to send witnesses to a holding cell for failing to comply with valid questions. If the President appoints the judges, and the marshalls are part of the executive, witnesses could validly be arrested, and later tried for an actual crime for failing to cooperate, and sent to a real pokey. It may get to that at some point, but with a divided Congress, it can’t happen right now.
Congressmen would probably need to let real lawyers in their employ ask the questions, since the only thing they are good at is grandstanding. They have no ability to ask a question properly or to follow up on answers that are given, except a very small few who were prosecutors, and many of those have forgotten.