WASHINGTON — Leading congressional Republicans demanded Monday that an internal government watchdog who had issued a critical report related to President Donald Trump’s luxury hotel in Washington produce reams of documents to support her conclusions.

The letter, to the General Services Administration’s inspector general, was a clear signal that Trump’s allies in Congress plan to aggressively defend his business dealings as his company comes under increasing scrutiny by House Democrats and others.

The letter was penned by Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security, and Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, the top Republican on the House Oversight Committee.

It centered on a Jan. 16 report by inspector general Carol Ochoa criticizing the government’s decision-making that allowed Trump to keep the lease on the Trump International Hotel downtown, which is in a building owned by the GSA.

The report charged that the GSA “ignored” concerns that Trump’s lease of a government-owned building might violate the Constitution’s emoluments clause, which bars presidents from taking payments from foreign governments or individual U.S. states.

Johnson and Jordan suggested that Ochoa’s office may have overstepped its bounds by studying whether the government had ignored the Constitution in reviewing Trump’s lease.

They also questioned why Ochoa’s office failed to cite Justice Department arguments on the matter.

Iraqi president hits back at Trump over U.S. army presence

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s president hit back at Donald Trump on Monday for saying U.S. troops should stay in Iraq to keep an eye on neighboring Iran, saying the U.S. leader did not ask for Iraq’s permission to do so.

“We find these comments strange,” said Barham Salih, speaking at a forum in Baghdad.

Trump has angered Iraqi politicians and Iranian-backed factions by arguing he would keep U.S. troops in Iraq and use it as a base to strike Islamic State group targets inside Syria as needed.

In an interview with CBS News’ “Face the Nation,” he said U.S. troops in Iraq were also needed to monitor Iran.

“He didn’t ask Iraq about this,” Salih said Monday. He said the Iraqi Constitution forbids the use of Iraq as a base to threaten the interests or security of neighboring countries.

Afghan government frozen out of peace talks with the Taliban

KABUL, Afghanistan — Taliban representatives and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s political rivals plan to discuss the future of Afghanistan on Tuesday in Moscow, a move seen by some as a further blow to the authority of the country’s current administration.

The two-day meeting brings key Afghan power brokers together with the insurgents to discuss ending the war that began in late 2001.

The Moscow talks follow a series of direct negotiations between Taliban members and U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad amid a renewed push by President Donald Trump to withdraw troops from Afghanistan.

Ghani’s government was excluded from all of those meetings because of the Taliban’s objection to an administration it regards as a U.S. puppet.

U.S. calls for repatriation of foreign fighters held in Syria

BEIRUT — The United States on Monday called on other nations to repatriate and prosecute their citizens who traveled to Syria to fight with the Islamic State group and who are now being held by Washington’s partners in the region.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces say they have detained more than 900 foreign fighters during their U.S.-backed campaign against the Islamic State group in northeastern Syria, where they are currently battling the extremists.

The question of what to do with the detained foreigners has grown increasingly thorny since President Donald Trump’s surprise announcement in December that he intends to withdraw all American forces from the country.

Very few countries have expressed readiness to repatriate their citizens.

Prosecutors subpoena Trump inaugural papers

NEW YORK — Federal prosecutors in New York have issued a subpoena seeking documents from Donald Trump’s inaugural committee.

A spokeswoman says the committee intends to cooperate with the inquiry and was reviewing it.

The Wall Street Journal reported last year that federal prosecutors are investigating whether inaugural committee donors made contributions in exchange for political favors.

The newspaper said the inquiry also was focused on whether the inauguration misspent money it raised to stage inaugural events.

The New York Times reported recently that federal prosecutors are examining whether anyone from Qatar, Saudi Arabia or other Middle Eastern countries made illegal payments to the committee and a pro-Trump super political action committee.

Judge: Victims of shooting at church can sue gun retailer

SAN ANTONIO — A judge has ruled that victims of a mass shooting at a Texas church can move forward with a lawsuit against a sporting goods chain where the gunman bought the weapon and ammunition used in the massacre.

The decision Monday by state District Judge Karen Pozza clears the way for families of the 2017 Sutherland Springs shooting to potentially bring their case against Academy Sport & Outdoors before a jury.

The retailer is where gunman Devin Kelley bought an assault-style rifle used in the church shooting that killed more than two dozen people.

Some families have also separately sued the U.S. Air Force over failing to report Kelley’s past crimes to a federal database. Kelley was an Air Force veteran who was discharged in 2014 for bad conduct.

Nomination: President Donald Trump says he’s nominating a Washington veteran with lobbying ties to U.S. energy companies to lead the Interior Department.

David Bernhardt, currently Interior’s acting head, would replace Ryan Zinke — who resigned in December — if the Senate approves his nomination.

Manfort sentencing: Paul Manafort has a new sentencing date. A federal judge Monday set a March 13 sentencing for the former Trump campaign chairman on two felony charges stemming from witness tampering and crimes related to his Ukrainian work. Manafort faces up to five years in prison on each charge.