Oversight Committee Presses NLRB on Failure to Comply with Subpoena

Non-compliance is a violation of law and a direct act of obstruction, Chairman Issa says

(WASHINGTON)—Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) continued pressuring National Labor Relations Board Acting General Counsel Lafe Solomon in a letter sent today to comply with a subpoena for information regarding the agency’s action against the Boeing Company. Chairman Issa told Solomon his failure to comply with an August 7 subpoena was a violation of law and a direct act of obstruction of Congress.

“As you know, a congressional subpoena requires full and complete compliance,” Issa wrote. “Accordingly, a witness or agency subject to a congressional subpoena may not decline to honor the subpoena on the grounds that a lawsuit is pending,” Chairman Issa added, citing clear legal precedent for compliance.

He added, “NLRB has no valid basis for continuing to withhold the documents the Committee has requested.”

On behalf of the Oversight Committee, Chairman Issa issued a subpoena following months of written requests for documents and materials from NLRB related its action against Boeing. The deadline for compliance was August 12. NLRB has yet to fully comply.

Issa’s letter outlines to Mr. Solomon the requirement that NLRB comply with a lawful subpoena for materials, and refutes several nebulous claims to privilege, used as justification for non-compliance, made in previous correspondence to the Committee.

Chairman Issa’s letter, a copy of which is available here, states that, “I trust you stand ready to accept the severe consequences of your decision to avoid compliance with the subpoena.”

Issa concluded, “I urge you to reconsider and state your intent to fully comply with this legally valid subpoena.”

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