Free Republic

Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein (Calif.) on Thursday denied that she ever said she was "pressured" to release private testimony of Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson. Feinstein, who is the ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, released the transcript without consulting Committee Chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa) and said Wednesday that she was "pressured" to do so. On Thursday, however, she said she was not pressured and denied ever having said that. "I made no statement to that effect," Feinstein said about being pressured. BuzzFeed reporter Emma Loop pressed the senator further, saying that there is a recording of...

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is warning that he will block a Department of Justice nominee until the department responds to his oversight requests. Grassley said during a Judiciary Committee business meeting on Thursday that the panel would not vote on Stephen Boyd's nomination to be assistant attorney general for legislative affairs because the Justice Department hasn't responded to more than a dozen letters. "The department needs to improve its communications with the committee members and staff. It needs to be more serious about answering the mail and questions from Congress," Grassley said, explaining why the committee wasn't going to vote...

Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley accused President Obama of dictatorial behavior in a floor statement Thursday, saying that his recess appointments were not the first acts he has taken to circumvent the constitutional system of checks and balances. “President Obama’s decision to bypass the constitutional advice and consent of the Senate is not an isolated incident,” Grassley said, according to prepared remarks. “It is merely the latest escalation in a pattern of contempt for the elected representatives of the American people and the constitutional separation of powers.” Obama appointed Richard Cordray as the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau...