"Letter and Subpoena to Tyler Robinson and Transcribed Interview Record regarding SBA Voter Registration Activities"
Summary
Letter dated May 7, 2024 from the House Committee on Small Business to Tyler Robinson, Special Advisor at the U.S. Small Business Administration, with a deposition subpoena and the transcript of a scheduled transcribed interview. The letter states that the Committee is investigating the SBA's voter registration Memorandum of Understanding with the Michigan Department of State under E.O. 14019, and that the SBA did not make Robinson available for an interview on May 2, 2024. The subpoena commands Robinson to testify at a deposition on May 21, 2024. The transcript of the May 2, 2024 session records that Robinson did not appear; majority General Counsel Lauren Holmes read the SBA's email declining the interview into the record and Representative Dan Meuser made a statement. The session began at 10:03 a.m. and concluded at 10:16 a.m.
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ROGER WILLIAMS, Texas NYDIA M. VELAZQUEZ, New York CHAIRMAN RankinG MemBer Congress of the Wnited States LS. House of Representatives Committee on Small Business 2361 Raubum House Office Building Washington, HE 20515-0515 May 7, 2024 Mr. Tyler Robinson Special Advisor U.S. Small Business Administration 409 3rd Street, SW Washington, DC 20416 Dear Mr. Robinson: The House Committee on Smal! Business (the Committee) is investigating the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) voter registration activities. The Committee’s attention was drawn to this matter after the SBA’s March 19, 2024, announcement that it had entered into a new voter registration Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Michigan Department of State purporting to help facilitate voter registration in the State of Michigan.'! The MOU is the SBA’s implementation of President Biden’s March 2021 Executive Order on Promoting Access to Voting (E.O. 14019).? The next day, during a Committee hearing regarding oversight of the SBA, several Committee Members expressed concerns about the timing and location of the initiative and whether the SBA is reaching beyond its statutory authority to improperly involve itself in the election process of a battleground state.? Members asked the SBA to provide “every email and every official correspondence to small businesses and interagency on those discussions related to requesting, enticing companies to register.”* The SBA, to date, has failed to provide any of those documents. Further, in questions for the record submitted to the SBA after the hearing, multiple Members asked additional questions and requested additional documents around the voter registration efforts. These, to date, also remain unanswered. On April 4, 2024, the Committee formally launched an investigation to uncover why the SBA is focusing on registering voters in Michigan while small businesses throughout the nation struggle to survive under the Biden Administration’s policies. The Committee requested that the SBA produce seven categories of documents, including the MOU itself, by April 18, 2024. Unfortunately, the SBA failed to provide a briefing, narrative response, or any documents by the ' Press Release, U.S. Small Bus. Admin., SBA Administrator Guzman Announces Agency’s First-Ever Voter Registration Agreement with Michigan Department of State (Mar. 19, 2024) 2 Joseph R. Biden, Exec. Order 14019, Promoting Access to Voting, Mar. 7, 2021, 86 F.R. 13623. 3 See Conducting Oversight: Testimony from the Small Business Administrator: Hearing Before H. Comm. on Small Bus., 118th Cong. (Mar. 20, 2024). 4d. Mr. Tyler Robinson May 7, 2024 Page 2 of 3 deadline. The SBA eventually provided a narrative response on April 26, 2024. This response was less than a page long and was simply a regurgitation of the press release the SBA released on March 19, 2024. This so-called response did not answer any of the questions nor provide any requested documents. The Committee sent a follow-up letter on April 18, 2024, requesting a voluntary transcribed interview with you, Mr. Robinson, on May 2, 2024, after a video recording of you with information pertinent to the investigation was made public the previous day. In this video, you made allegations about improper conduct at the SBA related to this investigation. When Majority staff was able to reach the SBA by telephone to discuss your availability, the SBA did not even attempt to negotiate the date or time of this interview, and instead opted to blatantly ignore the request. The SBA continued its disregard for the Chairman’s request even during a conversation with Majority staff on the day of your scheduled interview, declining to provide any alternative dates you would be available. Despite the utter lack of engagement from the SBA, the Chairman elected to move forward with the interview as scheduled. As the transcript from that interview shows, the SBA failed to make you available for the interview or to even negotiate with the Committee over the date and time for a transcribed interview with you. Further, the night before your interview, the SBA emailed and said, “[w]e stand ready to brief the Committee on the MOU this Friday, May 3 via Teams ... we will not be making officials available for transcribed interviews this week.” The Committee accepted the briefing, which occurred on May 3, 2024. When Committee staff attempted to ask questions about the video and the allegations contained therein, the SBA shut down the questioning. When Committee staff asked questions about the briefer’s role at the SBA as it relates to their experience with voter registration, SBA staff again shut down the questions. The SBA’s refusal to make either you or your boss, Mr. Arthur Plews, available for interviews, or even discuss available dates, on top of SBA staff’s refusal to answer basic questions in the briefing, is unacceptable. The briefing provided by the SBA staff was wholly inadequate and does not obviate the need for the Committee to receive your testimony. The Committee on Small Business has broad authority to investigate “problems of all types of small business” under House Rule X, including the SBA’s engagement in voter registration under E.O. 14019 and the MOU. Pursuant to this authority, the Committee has identified specific individuals’ testimony that is necessary to conduct this constitutionally based oversight. Unfortunately, the SBA has refused to engage on these requests. To ensure there is no further undue delay and that the Committee can obtain critical testimony to evaluate legislative solutions, attached to this letter is a subpoena for you to appear for a deposition on May 21, 2024, in Washington, D.C. Mr. Tyler Robinson May 7, 2024 Page 3 of 3 The subpoena has been issued pursuant to Rule XJ.2(m)(1)(B) of the Rules of the House of Representatives and Rule 9(A) of the Committee’s rules. If you have any questions regarding this subpoena, please coordinate with Lauren Holmes, General Counsel for the majority staff, at lauren.holmes@mail.house.gov. House Comm n Small Business SUBPOENA By AUTHORITY OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA To Tyler Robinson You are hereby commanded to be and appear before the House Committee on Smail Business of the House of Representatives of the United States at the place, date, and time specified below. L] to produce the things identified on the attached schedule touching matters of inquiry committed to said committee or subcommittee; and you are not to depart without leave of said committee or subcommittee. | Place of production: Date: Time: to testify at a deposition touching matters of inquiry committed to said committee or subcommittee; and you are not to depart without leave of said committee or subcommittee. Place of testimony: 2360 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515 Date: May 21, 2024 Time: 10:00 AM ET [-] to testify at a hearing touching matters of inquiry committed to said committee or subcommittee; and you are not to depart without leave of said committee or subcommittee. Place of testimony: Date: Time To any authorized staff member or the U.S. Marshals Service to serve and make return. Witness my hand and the seal of the House of hia / nited States, at the city of Washington, D.C. this y of Maf\ 2024. [ (rer. AWS Attest: "4 = My , () : Chggman or Authorized Wrber Clerk 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS, U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, WASHINGTON, D.C. INTERVIEW OF: The interview in the above matter was held in room 2414, Rayburn House Office TYLER ROBINSON Thursday, May 2, 2024 Washington, D.C. Building, commencing at 10:03 a.m. Present: Representative Meuser. 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Appearances: For the COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS: CHRIS ECKHARDT, LAW CLERK LAUREN HOLMES, GENERAL COUNSEL BEN JOHNSON, STAFF DIRECTOR MATTHEW PERRICONE, LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR FOR REP. MEUSER MATT VANHYFTE, DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS ELLEN HARRINGTON, MINORITY DEPUTY STAFF DIRECTOR MELISSA JUNG, MINORITY STAFF DIRECTOR 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Ms. Holmes. This is the scheduled transcribed interview of Mr. Tyler Robinson conducted by the Committee on Small Business under the authority granted under House Rule X and the rules of the Committee on Small Business. This interview was requested by Chairman Williams as part of the committee's oversight of the Small Business Administration's voter registration efforts. My name is Lauren Holmes, and | am the general counsel with the majority on the Committee on Small Business. For the record, starting with the members and their staff, followed by majority staff, minority staff, can the additional staff members please introduce themselves with their name, title, and affiliation? Mr. Meuser. Dan Meuser, Member, U.S. House, representing Pennsylvania's Ninth Congressional District. Mr. Perricone. Matthew Perricone, legislative director for Congressman Meuser. Mr. Eckhardt. Chris Eckhardt, law clerk for the majority staff with the Committee on Small Business. Mr. VanHyfte. Matt VanHyfte, director of communications for the Committee on Small Business, majority. Mr. Johnson, Ben Johnson, staff director, Committee on Small Business, majority. Ms. Harrington. Ellen Harrington, deputy staff director, House Small Business, minority. Melissa Jung. Melissa Jung, staff director, House Small Business, minority. Ms. Holmes. Thank you, everyone. Unfortunately, the SBA has faited to make Mr. Robinson available today or even 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 enter into negotiations over the date and time for his transcribed interview. Less than 24 hours before this interview was scheduled to take place, Mr. George Holman, the Associate Administrator for Congressional Affairs at the SBA, sent majority staff an email noting their decision not to participate in today or tomorrow's scheduled interviews. i will read the email into the record. Quote: "Hi, Lauren. "We stand ready to brief the committee on the MOU this Friday, May 3rd, via Teams. Onarelated note, we plan to share responsive documents related to the committee's interest on the MOU soon. "Separately, we will not be making officials available for transcribed interviews this week. Asa first step, we would appreciate the opportunity to brief your team on the topics of interest to the committee. After providing a briefing on these issues, we can discuss your interest in receiving additional information. "Please let us know if you would like to schedule such a briefing. We look forward to further discussion as the accommodations process continues and future engagement with the committee. Please let me know if you have questions." End quote. | responded shortly thereafter with, quote: “Hi, George. "We do not think a briefing will sufficiently address our concerns. The chairman requested Tls and that is our continued expectation. We are always happy to negotiate dates if tomorrow and Friday do not work for Mr. Robinson and Mr. Plews. However, if you are unable to provide alternate dates that they are available for these Tis, we will proceed as scheduled," end quote. 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 This blatant disregard for the chairman's request is unacceptable. The time is now 10:06, and the majority will begin their first hour. We are here today because the committee is investigating the SBA's voter registration activities. The committee's attention was drawn to this matter after the SBA's March 19th, 2024, announcement that it had entered into a new voter registration memorandum of understanding, or MOU, with the Michigan Department of State purporting to help facilitate voter registration in the State of Michigan. The MOU is the SBA's implementation of President Biden's March 2021 Executive Order on Promoting Access to Voting, Executive Order 14019. The next day, during a committee hearing regarding the oversight of the SBA, several committee members expressed concerns about the timing and location of the initiative and whether the SBA was reaching beyond its statutory authority to improperly involve itself in the election process of a battleground State. Members asked the SBA to provide, quote, "every email and every official correspondence to small businesses and interagency on those discussions related to requesting, enticing companies to register." The SBA, to date, has failed to provide any of those documents. Further, in questions for the record submitted to the SBA after the hearing, multiple members asked additional questions and made additional requests for documents around the voter registration efforts. These, to date, also remain unanswered. On April 4th, 2024, the committee formally launched an investigation to uncover why the SBA is focusing on registering voters in Michigan while small businesses throughout the Nation struggle to survive under the Biden administration's policies. The committee requested that the SBA produce seven categories of documents, 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 including the MOU itself, by April 18th, 2024. Unfortunately, the SBA failed to provide a briefing, narrative response, or any documents by the deadline. Therefore, the committee sent a follow-up letter on April 18th, 2024, requesting a transcribed interview with Mr. Robinson and his supervisor, Mr. Arthur Plews, after a video featuring Mr. Robinson with pertinent information to the investigation was made public on April 17th, 2024. Rather than negotiating about the date or time of this interview, the SBA has continued to blatantly ignore this request. The committee is incredibly concerned that the SBA has improperly involved the Federal Government in America's electoral process. Mr. Robinson confirmed this on video when he said the SBA is campaigning for President Biden. When asked, "So Administrator Guzman is indirectly campaigning for President Biden?" he responded, "Yes. Yeah." Further in the video, Mr. Robinson discusses how the SBA worked around the Hatch Act to ensure Guzman could travel across the country to help elect Democrats. From the allegations made in this video, it is clear that Mr. Robinson has information pertinent to this investigation. The committee has broad authority to investigate ‘problems of all types of small business' under House Rule X, including SBA's engagement in voter registration under Executive Order 14019 and the MOU. Pursuant to this authority, the committee has identified specific individuals’ testimony that is necessary to conduct this constitutionally based oversight. Unfortunately, the SBA has refused to engage on these requests. To ensure there is no further undue delay and that the committee can obtain critical testimony to evaluate legislative solutions, this serves as notice to the minority of 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 the chairman's intent to subpoena Mr. Robinson for his testimony. 1 now yield to Representative Meuser from Pennsylvania for his statement. Mr. Meuser. Thank you. This is Congressman Dan Meuser, Member of the U.S. House, representing the Ninth Congressional District of Pennsylvania, member of the House Committee on Small Business. I'm in attendance today due to the severity of the issue. The committee has requested Mr. Robinson's presence to discuss a request the SBA has ignored. During a time where our Nation's smail business owners are struggling with suffocating inflation, burdensome regulations, workforce shortages, and difficulty accessing capital, one agency supposedly dedicated to their support in Washington, the SBA, is using their valuable taxpayer-provided -- high-level people at that -- resources to further the political campaign of President Biden and the other members of his party in Congress, as per the video, which sounded pretty ugly and credible. On March 19th, 2024, the SBA publicly and proudly announced that it had entered into a new voter registration MOU with the Michigan Department of State to help facilitate voter registration in the State of Michigan. Boy, | don't recall seeing that in the mission statement of the SBA. The next day, during the hearing where this committee was conducting oversight of the SBA, other members of the committee and | expressed concerns about the suspicious timing and location of the initiative and whether the SBA is acting outside of its mission in a potential violation of the Hatch Act to inappropriately influence the election prospects of the President. We've asked to see what the MOU -- how it reads. During the hearing, | asked Administrator Guzman to provide every email and every official correspondence to small 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 businesses and interagency communication related to requesting and asking companies to register -- | thought that was reasonable -- and for those registered to participate in this voter registration initiative. It has been 6 weeks since this hearing, and the SBA has failed to provide any of these documents to the committee, including the MOU, which | understand is available under Freedom of Information, Right to Know, and every other law that exists. On April 4th, 2024, | sent a letter, with Chairman Williams and other members of our committee, to the SBA requesting the signed MOU the SBA so proudly announced on March 19th, as well as other information regarding its origins and purpose. SBA has refused to share this MOU with our committee. It is quite unconscionable that during such a precarious time for our Nation's small businesses that the sole Federal agency created to serve as their advocate is instead utilizing their limited taxpayer resources and time to advance partisan political campaigns. It shows a total disregard for our Nation's small businesses, for our free and fair election systems, and it's gross administrative malpractice. These concerns must be addressed and answered by the SBA, beginning with officials directly involved, like this Mr. Robinson. It is unacceptable the SBA has, perhaps intentionally, failed to make Mr. Robinson available to us for an interview today. Nosurprise. We're not idiots. Small businesses are at the heart of the work we do in this committee. It is shocking that we need to remind the SBA it is their responsibility to do the same, because they actually do work for the taxpayer and they are not really entitled to do whatever the hell they want. | will continue to work with Chairman Williams and the other members of the 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 committee to thoroughly investigate this matter and ensure that the SBA and the media that's interested and everybody else that can hear us from the rooftops is not fulfilling its mission to aid, counsel, assist, and protect the interests of small business while the President apparently directs them to engage in his campaign. So there was this video of this senior adviser that I'm not sure many of you saw, where he just was trying to impress somebody by telling them that, "Yeah, this is regular practice at the SBA. We focus on Democrat counties and Democrat States. We don't invite Republican members," as | know, because Administrator Guzman said, "Oh, yeah, if we come to Pennsylvania we'll let you know.” No. She was no more than 5 miles from where | live and she was spending time with Democrats. So that's just one piece of the proof of what this individual, Tyler Robinson, had to state during his video. So along with receiving no response, having a video just stating what the SBA's main focus is -- and that's helping President Biden register Democrats and get elected -- that's what Guzman's main job is, according to him and the video. And he'sa senior adviser. I'm not sure how many years he's been with the SBA. I'm sure since the beginning of day one of the Biden administration, because he does not really -- he doesn't exactly have a business background and is helping small businesses. This kid is a hired individual to help the administration advance themself in this coming election. So this is pretty outrageous. Wewanttoseethe MOU. We want to know what other States that they're engaged in this, you know, these really low actions. And we think we're going to pursue this, and it’s pretty ugly and it's pretty disappointing. And, hopefully, you know, Democrats don't fight back, because it's an undermining of the agency and it's an undermining of any confidence that's left in 10 election integrity. today. | yield. Ms. Holmes. Thank you, sir. | think that's all the questions that the majority has and comments. Does the minority have anything they'd like to add for the record? Ms. Jung. No. Ms. Holmes. Well, with that, we can go off the record, and we are done for [Whereupon, at 10:16 a.m., the interview was concluded.]
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