Labor Dept Nominee Tom Perez Used Private E-mail Account to Leak Non-public Information about Official Department Business

Issa presses Perez on failure to meet subpoena obligations related to St. Paul Quid Pro Quo and Federal Records Act Violations
 
WASHINGTON –Today, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa sent a letter to Department of Labor nominee Thomas Perez reminding him that has he not met his legal obligations to produce documents related to official business in his personal e-mail account pursuant to a subpoena issued by the committee.  Documents viewed by the committee and an admission from the Justice Department show that Perez used his private e-mail account to leak non-public information about official business outside of compliance with the Federal Records Act.

“You have a personal responsibility to comply with the Committee’s subpoena,” wrote Chairman Issa in today’s letter.  “To date, you have not personally complied with the Committee’s request or the terms of the subpoena.  In addition, you have not personally certified the veracity of the statements made by the Department in this matter and you have not certified that the Department’s assertion about the volume of responsive communications is accurate and complete.  The Department has an unfortunate history of misleading Congress, and you have a personal record of providing incomplete testimony to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights… Given this previous experience, the Committee requires the production of all responsive records to ascertain the true degree of your compliance with the Federal Records Act.”