House Judiciary Committee subpoenas James Comey and Loretta Lynch

The House Judiciary Committee has issued subpoenas for former FBI Director James B. Comey and former Atty. Gen. Loretta Lynch to appear for closed-door interviews in a probe of how federal law enforcement officials handled investigations of Hillary Clinton’s emails and the Trump campaign’s alleged Russia ties.

The orders direct Comey to appear Dec. 3, while Lynch is to appear Dec. 4, to speak with members of the House Judiciary, and Oversight and Government Reform Committees. Both have already spoken with other congressional panels looking into matters related to Russian interference in the 2016 election, and have indicated they are willing to speak to the joint inquiry as well.

But Comey has already objected to the format of the interview, hinting that he may not show if the session remains closed.

“I’m still happy to sit in the light and answer all questions. But I will resist a ‘closed door’ thing because I’ve seen enough of their selective leaking and distortion,” he wrote in a Thanksgiving Day tweet, acknowledging he had received the subpoena.

“Let’s have a hearing and invite everyone to see,” he added.

The panels’ inquiry has been driven by Republicans and decried by Democrats, who charge that the Republicans are using the investigation as an excuse to pillory law enforcement officials and cast doubt over the work that formed the basis of special counsel Robert Mueller probe. The joint investigation has drawn in senior members of the FBI and Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod Rosenstein, whom several Republican lawmakers want to bring back to Capitol Hill before the year ends.

The panels’ investigation is set to either end or dramatically change by the beginning of next year, when Democrats will hold the House majority, and assume charge — with full subpoena power — of all House committees.

Last week, when Democrats were warned that Comey and Lynch would likely be subpoenaed, the judiciary panel’s ranking Democrat, Rep. Jerrold Nadler of New York, admonished panel Republicans for taking such action “out of the blue, with very little time left on the calendar.”

“Witnesses have an obligation to comply with committee subpoenas,” he said in a statement, “but the committee has an obligation to issue those subpoenas with care.”