Top DOD Lawyer: Legislative Shop Didn't Violate Law Before Key F136 Vote

摘要

The Pentagon's top lawyer asserts the Defense Department's legislative affairs shop did not break the law last month when it provided undated, unsigned "information" papers about the Joint Strike Fighter alternate engine to new House members in advance of a key vote on whether to end funding for the program. On March 2, DOD's General Counsel Jeh Johnson stated in a letter to Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD), chairman of the House Armed Services tactical air and land forces subcommittee, that the Pentagon's "provision of information to Congress relevant to a pending legislative matter is appropriate and complies with" a statute that bars the Pentagon from lobbying Congress.