The Republican-led House committee investigating campaign fundraising Thursday approved procedural rules that restrict the influence of Democrats on the panel and increase the likelihood that the inquiry will focus on the Clinton White House and the Democratic National Committee.
Democrats denounced the rules, contending they undermined the prospects for an impartial inquiry.
The committee votes upheld the authority of the Republican chairman, Rep. Dan Burton of Indiana, to issue subpoenas on his own and release confidential information without the approval of the full committee.
Wednesday, moderate Republicans on the panel demanded that the inquiry include the congressional campaigns of members of both major parties. But Burton on Thursday avoided committing the panel, the Government Reform and Oversight Committee, to investigating congressional races.
Democrats complained that the inquiry’s new rules set the stage for a partisan attack on the White House and largely ignored legal fundraising practices by both parties that have been widely criticized.
“This investigation is now whatever the chairman wants to do,” said Rep. Henry Waxman of California, the committee’s ranking Democrat.
The House inquiry’s scope and procedural rules contrast sharply with those of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee. Its investigators are examining improper and illegal campaign finance practices in Congress and the White House.
Moreover, the committee issued 10 new subpoenas Wednesday, including six to tax-exempt groups that Democrats suspect may have abused their status to help Republicans.
But Burton and other House Republicans insisted Thursday that they are exercising the same prerogatives Democrats wielded when they were in power, and they promised to conduct a fair and thorough investigation.
“Our investigative efforts will seek to determine whether and to what extent illegal actions or foreign money influenced government officials or official government policies and actions,” said Burton, reading from a prepared statement.
