By David Martosko, U.s. Political Editor PUBLISHED: 15:32 EST, 12 December 2013 | UPDATED: 15:35 EST, 12 December 2013 Congress' top GOP watchdog is warning the secretary of Health and Human Services to stop instructing contractors behind healthcare.gov not to talk to Congress about the project. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chair Darrell Issa, a hard-charging California Republican, told Sec. Kathleen Sebelius in a letter on Wednesday that it's against the law to get between Congress and the companies her agency hired to work on  the crash-and-burn website. 'Obstructing a Congressional investigation is a crime,' Issa said Thursday in a statement.
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The Department of Health and Human Services wrote to Obamacare contractors telling them not to respond for Congress' document requests
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Obstruction of justice is a criminal offense punishable by up to five years in federal prison
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House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa is warning Secretary Kathleen Sebelius not to get between him and potential witnesses
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HHS has already been subpoenaed for the documents Issa is seeking from the healthcare.gov website contractors, but Sebelius hasn't produced them
Muzzled: Executives from the biggest @placeholder website contractors had their turn before Congress on Oct. 24, weeks before HHS started telling them to freeze lawmakers out of their document chains.