It is simple - investigation of alleged malfeasance by a president is a specific duty of the House of Representatives, and a potential Bill of Impeachment is a “legislative matter”.
The counter-argument would be to claim “legislative” is not any action within the bounds of the activities of the Legislature, something the Trumpanistas of the court might seize upon.
But, by definition, anything the House or its committees do is “legislative” - it is its sole reason for existence.
There is also the matter of whether any budget matters are specifically related to Trump interests or Trump Organization interests.
Fork it over, guys.
5
The democrats are as slooooow as molasses in any regard regarding Trump. I get the feeling that at the end of the day in DC all the politicians are in it just for their ego, power and money.
At least here in California most of the Trump's laws to ruin the environment are being overturned in court. I give our AG Becerra credit for that.
5
Barr must be held in contempt of Congress for his refusal to testify. It is not for him to decide who gets to question him during a Congressional hearing. Mnuchin can be next, as he decided with Barr that Congress is not entitled to Trump's tax returns.
Trump is adamant that no one testify before House committees, where Democrats are in charge. What is Trump still trying to hide?
2
Corruption proceeds by a series of small sometimes barely perceptible steps, no one step that big a deal by itself, but when many of these particles of this perfidious dust accumulate, they acquire a mass that’s too big to fight, and they start doing real damage. Each lie, each evasion, each infraction, however [seemingly] minor adds to the corruption – until it becomes too big to battle. This guy is importing his soldiers into the machinery one at a time, and before we know it, he’ll have too big an army to resist.
4
I just watched the History Vault documentary series on Watergate, and All the President's Men, and the echoes are unmistakable. Same song, new verse. That time, there was an honorable attorney general in Elliot Richardson - despite the word "Honorable" in that name sign in front of Barr's empty chair, we have no honorable AG now. Our best hope is that the courts will be less fawning toward the executive branch than the Congressional Republicans have been and will use the force of the legal system to correct things no matter what this AG says.
3
Steve Munchkin doesn't get to determine what is or is not legitimate oversight. End of story.
9
Arrest the Scofflaws and throw away the key: or civilly revolt against them.
7
Trump saying yesterday that Congress owed him two extra years was no joke. This guy's heroes are Mafiosi and dictators. That statement should be taken in dead earnest.
This is a "leader" who, at the edge of the precipice of climate change, closes his eyes and tells everyone there's nothing there.
This clown is not just holding America hostage, he's doing it to the world. And we're the ones who elected this monster. We owe it to not just ourselves to dump him, but the world.
7
@IRememberAmerica
I'm sure I am not the only one sitting on pins and needles for the next 18 months, as I fear he will not leave the White House if he is not reelected...and I expect the Republicans to support him in such a scenario. He will not give up power. And what are we going to do then?
3
@IRememberAmerica
He does talk like Tony Soprano......
3
Arrest Trump and Barr for obstruction!
10
Please stop threatening and do it. Hold Barr in contempt and then impeach him.
6
Why is Trump so afraid to release his taxes? He's a good citizen. He has nothing to hide!
4
I have one greater fear: it is the old Elliot Ness lets use the IRS to get people we have no other legal or legitimate means of investigating or arresting.
The idea of the IRS being used as a personal law enforcement tool frightens me from a constitutional point. I have no doubt the President is a crook but that is a poor justification for making the IRS into a branch of the FBI and Justice department. Many precedent breaking acts seem great ideas at the time until they're not: witness both the idea and law of alcohol prohibition accompanied by the cruel and useless Harrison tax act followed by hundreds of federal and state anti drug user laws that turned entire groups of people instantly into criminals because of a behavioral problem. Imagine if tody's oxycodone addicts could all be sent to federal lockups and marked as dangerous felons, never to be hired, never to be allowed to live ordinary lives. We almost did this to half the population in 1933 even as the nation was about to undo Prohibition. We would have bcome 50 million prison gurds and 50 million inamtes. All of them tippling and getting drunk together-we were saved by WWII, which gave us a real problem to solve.
This President and his party, are, of course, criminals and we ought to have figured it out by 2004 after Bush had us bleeding on the floor in Baghdad, chasing non existant weapons.
Can't we Leave the IRS out of politics, or we'll all become potential crooks and IRS agents will enslave us all.
1
Let's not forget Allen Weisselberg should be next on the hot seat.
7
When I'm speeding the government has no legitimate interest in giving me a ticket because I'm a really good careful driver.
How is that argument going to fly before the judge, Mr. Mnuchin? You know your argument has no merit. What are you trying to hide?
4
Today Mitch McConnell reminded me of what of Senator Amidala said in the Galactic Senate as she watched the Sith Lord make an argument that would made him leader and plunge the Galaxy into Darkness and Oppression.
3
Clearly we neither live in a Democracy or under the rule of law. Apparently the Republicans and this Administration just say “no” to both and get away with it. Is this what a Dictatorship looks like?
3
Enough of "threats"!
Issue contempt citations for Barr, Mnuchin, and anyone else refusing to comply with subpoenas! Then recommend prosecutions for obstruction of justice, perjury (Barr), and, and active participation in a criminal conspiracy.
3
If Barr refuses to comply with the Constitutional and lawful requests of Congress, then he should be put in jail until he does comply, just like anyone else who is found in contempt of court or Congress. There needs to be real, and painful consequences dealt to those who continue to carry out the unlawful an un-Constitutional orders of the wannabe tyrant Trump.
2
Everything Trump touches becomes sullied and sordid.
For starters: Look at his early foray into Atlantic City.
This is a person who only knows the rules of warfare and total domination.
His presidency must be destroyed if our nation is to survive.
I hope the democrats understand this is full-out war against them and they must use everything lawfulin their power to wrestle back some semblance of control and balance in our nation.
What will
It take? A coup? Perhaps, I am afraid.
Stop threatening. Start doing. Take action! I have grown terribly weary of the hand-wringing, spineless Democrats who adamantly refuse to hold people in contempt and move forward with impeachment proceedings for Barr and others. Do your jobs!! The American people demand it.
3
Congress, and the American people cannot expect Trump to follow the law, he rarely does.
Now Mnuchin will be in the crosshairs and is suspect of Trumplike activities. We need his taxes too!
3
Pelosi, Nadler, Schiff, Lewis and Schumer are not up to the task. Trump and Co. commit another dozen new crimes every morning before they’ve even put in their false teeth.
The President has up Richard Nixon’s famous line. “He is a crook!” For an individual who proclaims his innocence, he and his administration sure are acting guilty by all this stalling and disobeying authorized subpoena’s. We want the truth and nothing but the truth. The day of reckoning has arrived to hold you accountable Mr. President. Wherever that may lead us. I urge the American people to stay focused. Our Constitution and the rule if law is at stake, which you swore to protect. It seems you violate both on a daily basis, Sir.
1
Can we please subpoena all of Schiff and Nadler's emails, including their staff members, to see if there is a conspiracy to overturn an election? They should have nothing to hide
1
Not surprisingly, the majority of Comments on this article were written by thoughtful, law-abiding & ethical people who actually care about the future of this country. I do note however that 1 or 2 Comments written by apparent supporters of Mr. Barr & his boss have engendered a large number of responses, as such initial postings often do.
I completely understand and sympathize with the impulse of decent thoughtful & ethical people to respond to the obvious stupidity & spite of internet trolls such as the posters of certain stunningly ignorant Comments. It feels good to fight back by attempting to reason with haters. Just remember that trolls rarely have the courage to actually read or think about responses to their posts. Trolls live to cause consternation & misery in other people. Trolls have no interest in learning anything. Besides, a lot of trolls – possibly the posters of some of the most spiteful & inflammatory Comments here – often live in Russia or NK & work for those hostile governments. At any rate, trolls always believe they have the last laugh over the good people. Let’s prove them wrong by our actions, not just our words. Thank you.
1
Don’t back down Democrats!!
For too long we have been weak and overly accommodating,
hoping for a civil discourse...it is not going to happen.
Stand strong and firm. No more silly stuff like bring chicken
to a hearing. That’s ridiculous and demeaning to the office.
Be adults and follow through with your responsibilities.
2
I am not a Trump fan, nor am I anti-Trump.
I wanted the Mueller investigation, not to get Trump, but to get to the bottom of a real issue affecting our country.
That said, the more the President denies access to information pertaining to anything, especially his tax returns, makes me think he indeed has something to hid.
My President isn't acting the way I would if innocent, which lends me to think that he probably is hiding something.
2
I have a suggestion to resolve the tax return portion of this much larger scandal. If the President can merely PROVE that any of his tax returns are "under audit" or any other IRS appeals procedure, then we'll forget about it. Just a simple, highly redacted letter from the IRS to him or his CPA which suggests it deals with an ongoing audit or examination. Until then, I believe him about as much as I believe his Treasury Secretary.
3
The article seems to avoid comparing the Obama Administration’s Eric Holder as another instance when he refused turning over Fast and Furious documents to congress. The Obama Administration spent a record $36 million to protect FOIA documents requested from congress. Holder was found in contempt of congress proceedings, and nothing happened until late last year, when a court ruled they had to be released. Nobody demanded Holder be arrested or impeached. Same for Obama. It would only seem fair to examine the last president and AG if people are concerned about precedent. As for tax records, why would congress need years of Trump tax returns before elected to seek oversight on presidential audits? Anyone who doesn’t see the obvious abuses being used by Democrats is just plain biased. Seeking presidential attorneys, advisors, and grand jury testimony has never been the norm. Trump deserves the same protections Obama was given without threats of impeachment.
1
I am trying to think what has changed since the Nixon days which makes impeachment even more difficult. First Trump is a first term president which makes actions more difficult for Republicans. Second, the Congressional Republican party is more behind Trump. Also the Starr/Kavanaugh overreach impeaching Clinton for frivolous reasons failed in the Senate due to the large democratic minority. The frivolous use of the process (lying about an affair) discredited the process itself. Our checks and balances system is founded largely on myth as the executive branch lacks the power to force oversight in reality. Chomsky used to argue that the U.S. is an elected four year dictatorship which is about right except the standards of vote counting and suppression in the U.S. is third world at best.
Yet another attempt by Trump to weaken the concept of good government. Isn't it almost common sense to have transparency by elected officials to promote trust/ faith? Or does that matter? He did promise to reveal his tax returns during the campaign.Now he says he's being audited, as if that's a barrier to it all. Of course no proof of that Obviously there's something there he's fearful of.. Now the 40 year history of Presidents/Presidential aspirants coming clean about their returns will be broken. Those that follow can cite Trump's secrecy. Good government? Right.
American citizens, "individual one" has by his actions has told us that our constitution and our laws are not significant and don't need to be followed. we have 3 branches of government, but "individual one" seems to think none of that matters if what they(Congress) are asking for doesn't suit or please him. Graham and McConnell want to tell us that as far as they are concerned the Mueller report, or at least the Barr findings are final. guess what the majority of Americans don't agree with them. Congress is appears will have to hold Barr in contempt and mot like will have to go thru Impeachment regarding "individual one", even if the Senate won't do there duties. the behavior of "individual one" needs to be on record. I don't think that an impeachment helps "individual one" as his base is the size its been from the beginning, but the majority of US citizens (voters) will still vote for a change in 2020.
These folks seem to have forgotten that they work for us, We the People. Those are OUR documents. We have a right to see what our elected representatives and their agents are up to.
1
So if the House votes Barr in contempt for failing to turn over grand jury proceedings and it is illegal for the AG to release those proceedings, can the AG sue the House for punishing him for doing what he is legally obliged to do? Can a judge then overturn the House contempt citation?
1
Trump knows that impeachment will solidify his base but he is not intelligent enough to realize that the facts uncovered during investigation stage could undo the loyalty of his base. If the Congress starts an investigation into impeachment, everything that Trump and his family have done in their businesses and with their private wealth becomes available to the investigators, everything. Not only will all know of his tax returns but all of his business dealings. One of the concerns will be the emoluments clause which will justify a complete investigation into all of his business and personal finances.
I think that Trump is listening to people who assert that the President has unitary executive powers and Congress cannot investigate his personal finances and actions while he is in office. It’s deluded nonsense. Wishful thinking by reactionaries who fear democracy and long for rule by Kings.
1
"the committee’s request is unprecedented, and it presents serious constitutional questions,: Well, the Committee's request is unprecedented because former presidents have voluntarily released their tax returns. This is the first one who has refused which has got to lead to the question of why? Trump should be in jail!
1
The United States of America needs an attorney, badly. The one we thought we had has chosen to work for someone else and the nation is now without legal representation.
2
Why wait? Just do a vote on contempt and put it on the record. And why is the expectation that it will take a long time to get the case through the courts?? I would think this case as well as the rest of the House cases could be expedited, given the absolute significance for the future of our country.
1
While this keeps the pundits and their lawyers employed and enthralled, it may be that We the People are fed up. Fed up with nothing getting done, and the latest drama from the divas in the WH again the top news story.
Congress has a legitimate oversight role, and we can't fault them for trying to do their jobs. I just wish they could get to their other work too. And the suggestion that forgetting about all the misdeeds of this administration is the correct path to take is the height of hypocrisy.
We've all had that boss, roommate, significant other, job etc. where regardless of how we got to where we were with them, the daily drama just got to be too much.
It is my sincere hope that next election, 1) the democrats have the good sense to put someone, sane, sensible, and patriotic on the ticket (a big if) and that 2) voters will have had enough of the country being run like a reality TV show, whether they like the actor in the starring role or not.
This administration needs tougher oversight than any other administration in the US history. Subpoena first , ask later.
2
Do it. Trump and the GOP are intentionally destroying democracy. Now ask the question, “Why?”, and follow the money for the answers.
2
I would appreciate it if someone with a better understanding of the law could explain the significance (or lack thereof) of the DOJ 'policy' that stipulates a sitting president cannot be charged with a crime.
Apparently Mueller relied on this when drafting his report, and AG Barr is apparently relying on it when he denies Congress access to evidence of the president's crimes.
As far the current reporting, this 'policy' is nothing more than an internal department memo/opinion (by god knows who)/policy position of the DOJ.
It is NOT a law, or an executive order. I find it incredibly alarming that some faceless nobody can author an internal policy document that exempts the President from Congressional oversight and renders him immune to prosecution.
This is the story that no one has covered.
I am having a hard time picturing how this could turn out well. If Trump is impeached and, as expected, the Senate does not convict him, his campaign will be comparing him to Jesus as being falsely accused. If he was somehow convicted, presumably from evidence of the numerous other investigations, I am not confident his followers would accept the decision. Meanwhile, the Evangelical pastors would urge their followers to empty their bank accounts and do everything possible to get Pence elected in 2020. Pence would then be eligible to be re-elected and serve until 2028. Wouldn't that be special.
If impeachment proceedings are not commenced, you can expect Trump to exclaim over and over again how he has never done anything wrong and that the Democrats were finally forced to accept that fact after all their witch hunts. Apparently, it is possible to display your criminality and numerous mental illnesses for everyone to see while constantly lying about everything and, if the economy is okay, we will support you.
What higher crime is their than blatantly breaking the law? It is an impeachable offense to refuse to obey an unambigous law to provide tax returns, a law with clear support in Supreme Court precedent. The impeachment power is the only power that can enforce a rogue President whose Justice Department is actively shielding him from the law.
1
The Mueller investigation was supposed to be the means for removing the President from office but alas it turned out that it found no evidence of collusion and therefor there could not be obstruction if there is no crime. So now in their despair the Democrats have turned their hate towards the Justice Dept. and the AG even to the point of impeaching him. The mantra is that if you stand in the way of the Democratic agenda they will seek to destroy you and everyone around you.
I have never witnessed this kind of hatred in all my 80 years. This is not about ideology or a difference of political opinion this is about pure unadulterated hate for Donald Trump and his family and anyone who is associated with him or supports him. I am registered as an Independent and know that I would never want to be associated with a party with this kind of an agenda.
1
It never occurred to me how easy it would be to kill the good old U. S. of A.
While we try to annihilate each other and our form of government, the Chinese must be wondering and puzzling over the strange disease affecting the USA at the highest levels of government. Certainly, no one expected the USA, with her checks and balances, to ever go off the rails, did we? Most puzzling to the Chinese, must be that USA citizens elected a Narcissist with Tyrant Curious tendencies as their President.
The Chinese must be simultaneously trying to keep Trump from throwing the global economy of it axis and send the world spinning out of control, while they plot on how to continue making the USA weaker for the next 100 years.
Death doesn’t have to come with a single graceful bullet to the head, you know? Death may come in the form of an infinity number of microscopic Chinese cuts that will take 100 years to do its job.
And, why would the Chinese ever care about time. Time is all they have. 5000 years worth. That is how long China has existed.
100 years is but a New York minute in the minds of Chinese leaders.
We need to be practical and be ready for the inevitable. We should start teaching “Chinese Languages and Cultures” in High Schools and Colleges and Universities.
The reason Mr. Trump doesn't want his tax returns or financials investigated is that it would reveal that he has a negative net worth.
He is not a successful businessman.* He just played one on TV.
---
* As if that were a qualification to be president in the first place.
1
Guys, what is the obsession with Trump's tax returns? He doesn't have to supply them. He's within his legal rights. What do the Dems believe is so criminal or sinister in these returns? Let it go! Please, do something during your working hours that constitutes as the job you were hired to do.
1
They can dish it out but they can't take it.
2
No more nice guys, Democrats! We must take this rancid administration and its traitorous population down - but it must be done wisely. We have smart Democrats in power who I hope will prove that they know the best lesson I learned in college: how to think. Think 5 steps ahead (or more). Anticipate "their" actions and reactions, and consider as many possible scenarios as you can so that you are prepared. Hasty and emotion-based reactions yield unexpected results, but prompt and planned action is almost always effective, and no reaction always yields the wrong results. Trump may not be the smartest guy on earth, but he and his cronies know what I'm saying is true because they have been doing this, thinking ahead, for decades. (That's why those packed courts will be burdening us for generations while they keep hiding their duplicity behind fresh "bright shiny objects" like this "two years of reparations" garbage.)
We Democrats and other truly caring Americans don't have the luxury of years to respond to the immediate crises, but we can and must act thoughtfully, emphatically, systematically and soon. A raft of subpoenas and contempt citations is a good place to start, but as a great philosopher said, start as you mean to continue. Let's be strong, go forth wisely and follow through.
can we stop saying Democrats and just say house judiciary committee? yes, Republicans are on the committee (even if they're voting the opposite way), but it is a joint committee and should be treated as such. citing only Democrats as doing anything just increases the "political manhunt' angle with which our 'Dear Leader' is obsessed.
1
Mr. Trump and his administration are not behaving in the way that law abiding people behave. Rather, their desperate attempts to derail and divert attention are as good as admissions of guilt. Unless more Americans wake up and begin recognizing this nonsense for what it is we are in deep trouble as a nation.
1
As bad as it is - should Democrats not focus on the big picture, such as having a solid concept for their own party to win - and fleshing out the Green New Deal (yes, also you, Nancy!) that obviously many Americans see as urgent?
The Republicans have been superbly successful in entangling Democrats in a spiderweb of defensive issues, just to be distracted from what matters most: Fix your party and win.
Who cares about Barr (or even Trump) if we have destroyed out food sources (bees, .... long list) and poisoned our air + water)
1
Democrats continue to do the work of the Russians even after finding out there was no Trump collusion. A national embarrassment. By the time the election rolls around once again the Democrats will have miscalculated and the country will be so sick of them.
BTW a subpoena to Eric Holder is still outstanding and not once in many years did I hear the Dems say Holder was rightfully held in contempt for not producing documents under subpoena
1
Barr gave pardons to St. Reagan's cabinet after they were caught trading with the enemy. Iran no less. Now Mr. Pardon for hire has a new gig. Pardon the Trump's obvious obstruction in plain sight. GOP wants to move on. Didn't GOP leader McCarthy say that their 10 Benghazi investigations (ZERO indictments) were more about hurting Hilary's polling numbers. Meanwhile the Mueller report has 40 plus indictments and more coming. Word is out Barr will shut down all investigations. << THE PARDON IS IN >>
I empathize with the Democrats, there presents t conundrum: if they start impeachment proceedings they risk what happened to the Republicans who impeached Bill Clinton, and Trump sails to re election. On the other hand, if they do nothing, history will judge them very harshly as a neutered Congress that shrunk from its constitutional duty to hold the executive branch accountable.
It the unemployment rate is under 4.0 in 2020 Trump wins re election. So they may as well let the record show that they impeached him and show future generations that America has never sat back and let a president become a de facto king. Because at this rate there is no Trump supporter or Republican Congress that will not challenge this president if he were to want a third term.
7
The DNC paid for this contrived British and planted Russian disinformation, the Steele dossier, and just can’t let it go even when disproven by Mueller and a $35 million investigation.
They need to govern and conduct the people’s business instead of Putin’s and Xi’s business.
4
@Charlie Boris, over 100 contacts between the Trump campaign and Russia, and much of the Steele information was right. Why are you part of the disinformation effort? Money? Loyalty to Russia?
Yet another point where this administration acts like it is above the law. I was never a fan of impeachment, but Barr and Mnuchin have changed my mind.
20
It boggles the mind to think that generally reasonable persons would tarnish their reputations to protect this clearly amoral president.
This is not a chess game, this is real life.
Comey was right in that one gives tactical support to Trump and then finds themselves complicit in his game.
And obviously, Trump has been doing this all his life.
But as for a sitting president is so 'busy running the government that he can't be bothered with a subpoena', wouldn't it be reasonable to hand over the job to the vice president in and during such an event?
The vice president is there for a reason.
If the president were ill, the vice would step in, would he not?
7
Well, we had a good run, almost 243 years.
18
If trump's returns are so complex and voluminous, I wonder if trump himself fully understands or has even read them. He likely has layers of lawyers and accountants deviously moving numbers about to minimize taxes and to conceal shady business practices. Trump most likely pays these lackeys well to scheme. Other than signing and dating his returns, I doubt trump truly knows or understands what's in them.
Yes, he's hiding something. He knows it. He just doesn't know what it is he's hiding.
As a charlatan trump fears most being bared as one.
9
Barr should be impeached. In addition, it is time to file ethics complaints for disbarment against Barr in ever jurisdiction where he is licensed to practice law.
13
The President already had the authority to obtain anyone’s tax returns.
The law passed in the 1920s also gave congress that authority, to balance out that power.
If the Democrats prevail, then Trump will not hesitate to get the tax returns of all his Democrat and media opponents.
4
@JQGALT Let the chips fall...
5
And we know how full blown criminals like the Trump syndicate react to threats right?
Pelosi's plan of do nothing and let the voters decide in 2020 is right on track. Laws are no longer enforced in Washington DC.
Trump looks like a sure win in 2020 as the democrats keep their heads firmly implanted in the sand.
4
@Hal The Democrats in Congress’s responsibility to uphold the balance of powers as delineated in the Constitution outweighs any political strategy. They must go on record as seeking to uphold the Constitution against this illegal and unprincipled attack. I do not believe that it will work against them, but rather add fuel to an already abused electorate ready to resume living under a democracy.
5
Something like this was inevitable. The system is either going to force Trump to back off or it isn't. If it doesn't succeed, he will continue to wield greater and greater power.
I tend to believe two things: that his business is crooked and can't stand up to scrutiny, and that he never thought he would win. So he's in a pickle; he has to hold on to power and avoid the scrutiny, or he goes down. There is no graceful way out unless we create one.
We might have to offer him a blanket pardon and a way to shore up his businesses in exchange for him stepping down.
Personally I'd rather see him forced out in disgrace, but that might be too dangerous for the country and its institutions. We might have to offer him a deal.
3
If he had any class, (which we know he doesn’t), he would step down for “health reasons,” or some other excuse. But he’s a fighter who seems to thrive on adversity and Adrenalin, so I expect he’ll be in office until the bitter end, whatever that turns out to be.
2
Please he is probably already working on his speaking tours...I’m sure he will get much more than the $2 per seat that the Bill and Hillary show does.
@Charlie: That won't be enough to satisfy him, even though it would be much more than other people make.
Man. What kind of incriminating evidence is in those tax returns. It must be a bombshell for the Trump administration to throw us into this separation of powers showdown to keep it hidden.
8
The House keeps threatening to do all sorts of things. I continually wonder, "What are they waiting for?" Just one for instance: the redacted grand jury info in the Mueller report needs a court order to be unredacted. Yet the Democrats have not even taken this crucial step yet, after weeks of knowing it necessary. There are innumerable instances of such - what shall we call it? foot-dragging.
I'm sorry, but it appears to me the Democrats do not have a clue how to counteract the Trump menace. They are dithering and dithering some more, and talking, and threatening - but nothing happens. Nothing ever happens. Why is that? Are they in on the game? Of course they are. Either that, or they are completely and utterly incompetent.
Oh, what I wouldn't give for one, just one, Leon Jaworski or Elliot Richardson, or Sam Ervin. Sigh. America does not produce people like that anymore.
6
I think Dems are just too split to act, as they are over putting together a party platform. There’s the Pelosi way, ie to just stop trying to nail Trump and his corrupt administration and just focus on the 2020 elections, and then there are all those new house members scrambling for a showdown. The Dems have to come together on priorities and form a coherent agenda or they will continue to splinter and as a result be completely ineffectual.
4
@Barbyr I prefer to think that they are proceeding in a fashion that will show they made every good faith effort to allow the White House, Barr et al to come into compliance with the law, so that when it comes to a showdown in court the preponderance of good faith demonstrated will be on the side of the investigating committees.
3
This is why people like Pelosi and Biden need to go. What integrity has Pelosi shown? That she can use insider trading information to make millions just like any corrupt member of Congress? She’ll never do anything to uphold the Constitution. Money and re-election are more important to her.
Democrats for years have clamored for Mr. Trump’s tax returns, which they say could show misdeeds and tax evasions. Mr. Neal settled on a rationale that he needs them to evaluate the Internal Revenue Service’s practice of auditing sitting presidents and vice presidents.
So this request has nothing to do with Trump but rather a random check on the bean counters at the IRS who apparently don't know who to work their adding machines to the Democrats' satisfaction?
It's like we all know that it's also purely coincidence that sobriety checkpoints most often set up just right after the bars close too.
2
"[L]acks a legitimate legislative purpose"? I can understand why "purpose", or intent, may be an element in determining the severity of a criminal action; but since when does any law enforcement or legislative body need to justify taking an action permitted them by law? These are powers granted to Congress for a reason, and they do not have to justify why they are exercising the power to which they are entitled. Their authority is equal to the President's. The President and his crew don't get to decide which laws they will respect and which they won't. They can't choose whether or not they will obey a subpoena. They can't decide whether or not they will respect a request to appear before Congress. Either we have the rule of law, or we have Mr. Trump's private little duchy.
And, even if "intent" did matter - wouldn't a "legitimate legislative purpose" be to determine if there were violations to the emoluments clause of the Constitution (for which there is credible evidence), or material conflicts of interest (for which there is credible evidence) in the case of Mr. Trump? Or, to determine if the release of tax returns should be made mandatory in the future to insure we understand exactly where the interests of our candidates for office reside? These seem like pretty legitimate purposes to me.
Why is Mr.Trump so afraid to share the same information candidates have shared for 50 years? Why is he so afraid to share the full Mueller report?
Yes. That's why.
11
As the Trump administration has shown no interest in following the law, I think we need to face the possibility of his either cancelling the 2020 presidential election by saying it was fixed by hidden state for him to lose or, if he does allow it to be held and he loses, make a similar claim and refuse to give up office.
Clearly most of his supporters are so enthralled by him that they would have no problem with either and being willing to pick up their guns to defend his choice.
2
When the administration refuses to follow the law and deny the right of the people to a system of checks and balances, and hides the evidence, who will compel adherence to the law?
3
Munchin is not refusing to give Trump's tax returns to DEMOCRATS, he is refusing to give them to our legislative body, the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee. Our media needs to step up their game and stop characterizing the news and report factually.
18
Yes, this is a non partisan issue.
9
So glad as a country we are all on the same team. But alas, the swamp has become quite thick.
2
Dems are kowtowing to a party that probably had impeachment papers sitting in a drawer somewhere, waiting for the day after Hillary Clinton's inauguration, to nail her for the ongoing fantasy of Benghazi and their hypocrisy on her emails. Then they would've made sure she was in jail within six months. This is a constitutional crisis, not a re-election issue--arrest them all now.
10
Trump is the gift that keeps on giving from Vladimir Putin's point of view. I can't begin to imagine how many glasses of vodka have been raised in salute to this impressive Russian success.
The Russian power elite put Donald Trump in the White House and he has taken our country right into a constitutional crises.
If I were Vladimir Putin I would be delighted with the discord and divisiveness Trump has created inside and outside of America. Trump is the gift that keeps on giving from Vladimir Putin's point of view.
So why can't many of the America public and the GOP grasp this? Why is there any debate about what to do about this lying, poor excuse of a man with no ethics, morality, honor or respect for the law?
Does our government have a backbone or not? I'll tell you this; our country's founding fathers would be rid of a fellow like Trump in a heartbeat.
15
Congress needs to start sending people to jail until they obey the laws and the Constitution.
13
If there is a loophole Trump will exploit it. I doubt he is smart enough too on his own, but as his attorneys are the best our tax money can buy they will.
By the end of this presidency there will be much settled law concerning the executive branch.
4
The Democrats attempt to weaponize the President's tax returns for political purposes is really a separate issue apart from their fight with the Attorney General over the Mueller report, and shouldn't be conflated by them, or the press. We should all have the right to keep our tax returns away from the prying eyes of politicians who hide behind a bureaucratic imperative in order to gain an advantage for themselves in the national debate, regardless of one's standing in our society. If they are allowed to do this to one person, they can do it to all.
3
The American people have a right to know what is in the President’s tax returns. We have a right to know just how much of a criminal this guy is. The law allows the house access to the President’s tax returns. Looking for the truth is not “weaponizing” Trump’s tax returns. There shouldn’t be anything in those returns the Americans can’t see. We already know that if Trump wasn’t the President, he would already be charged with multiple counts of obstruction of justice. No one is above the law, but I guess that’s not really true, is it?
11
The president is the one person who shouldn’t have that right to hide his tax returns, because among other things that could affect his policies, we the people need to know if he’s beholden to a foreign power or not.
7
Now we can clearly see the President's hiring strategy. Neither the Treasury nor the Justice Dept. are independent. They are part of the President's vanguard. The oversight the Senate was supposed to provide over hiring is a complete sham. The Republicans in the Senate and their donor class think they can use him and control him, but this is the mistake through history that elites have made.
11
@Debra
And it was all so predictable! Remember how people who voted for HRC were called snowflakes and every other stupid name? Because we knew everything raining down of the US now would come to pass with Trump in office. The only thing I'm surprised by, is other people's level of surprise.
1
Cry the Beloved Country, by Alan Paton, goes through my mind all the time now. I cry for what we are losing with those people running our government. Greed propels them. I am 78 and never had children but I have many nieces, nephews, and all their children, plus all the students I taught for 43 years. I fear for their futures. I can’t march anymore but I beg those who can to do it now! Yes, it can happen here and if you think it can’t happen then you know nothing about authoritarian rule. This is how it starts!
22
Maybe we should just give up on this whole democracy thing (it seems like a lot of work) and get in line behind Republicans who are goose stepping right behind the Don's administration.. up front are the cheerleaders (Sanders and Conway)..
America loves parades...
5
The Trump administration is a total disaster, they are destroying the institutions of democracy and the nation can't remove them from power. The nation has no tools to stop the implosion?
4
I’m sure the courts will sort it out....after Trump leaves office in 2024.
2
@Greg: If Trump wins in 2020, either he or his hand-picked successor (Kushner?) will assume office in January 2025.
4
What if Treasury discovered, in fact, there are no tax returns?
5
@David more realistically, as I’ve heard a lawyer who has looked at his past returns say, what if they are so obscured and indecipherable, with so many hidden and complex threads, that finding anything glaringly illegal is practically and temporally impossible? Not exactly like, but similar to, the 10 incidences of obstruction of justice Mueller found, but passed on to Congress to act upon.
1
Trump is treated with the same high regard as realtors. Despite loads of rules and laws, rarely is a realtor held to his/her crimes- usually fraud and money laundering. If they get caught, they use mediation and powerful attorneys to get off. Realtors took away a lot of work for attorneys long ago, but with mediation they make their money doing almost no work. Both get paid for stealing and the victim is left in tatters and powerless.
Realtors are the new warlords of the U.S.!! Their rapacious and locust-like vision are a huge threat to us. The unregulated real estate market has allowed people with very little education to have enormous leverage and power because they are willing to cheat- errors and omissions.
It's about time this benign treatment of thieves is exposed. Realtors are the new warlords and they are here to take everything. Nothing like perceived tax dollars! You can find people like Trump ravaging every part of the world.
3
@Manon Tree: Do you mean real estate speculators? Most realtors simply help people buy and sell houses, and the vast bulk of them obey the rules when doing so.
1
Wasn't Eric Holder held in contempt of Congress? And what happened to Holder? Nothing, except to be declared a hero by Democrats. Given the Eric Holder example and precedent of flipping the bird to Congress, why should Barr be concerned? As Democrats made abundantly clear with Holder, it's all about politics, nothing more.
4
@TonyIt's about enforcing the rule of law, and the unfolding of current events. Try to keep up.
3
@Tony so why not change the system? Don't have a coronary now, but you guys are in need of a new Constitution. That 4-page document written over 2 centuries ago is giving you much more headaches and heartaches than it actually helps you solve big and small problems. What good does it do you to point fingers at "look what the Democrats did"? or "Obama did this and that and got away with it". It's like watching kids in the school yard. Democracies need to constantly evolve (hint: mature/grow up) in order to manage big problems. Maybe Americans need to stop acting like adolescents and accept some hard truths about what it means to be an adult. Unless of course, you're content with all the money and power to continue to be concentrated in the hands of the few. Perhaps that helps explain why almost 40% of American voters admire intellectually and morally bankrupt strongmen. As long as they have money (or say they do), it's all good, they'll keep supporting them because they tweet nasty things about people they hate, justifying their narrow view of the world. Good luck America!
2
Perhaps Attorney General Barr should reflect on the current residence of Trump's previous fixer.
16
By sharing the full Mueller report with the White House Barr lost any shred of grounds on which to deny it to Congress.
The simple future fix for this dilemma would be legislation allowing for the indictment of the president in the face of overwhelming evidence of malfeasance. The Justice Department’s policy of not indicting a sitting president is imbalanced and a disservice to the American people.
5
Is it up to the Treasury secretary or the Congress to decide what is a "legitimate legislative purpose"? When it is a question of "Legislative Purpose", by definition, the Legislature has the ultimate right to make that decision, not the courts and certainly not the executive branch of our tri-partite government. Besides, what is hidden in Mr. Trump's tax returns that shouldn't be revealed to every American voter? If he is hiding some illegitimate or immoral business, we need to know about that.
6
@RLW "If he is hiding some illegitimate or immoral business, we need to know about that." Just a guess, but that's probably why nobody's seen the tax returns. I'd also guess that sooner or later someone will leak a substantial amount of his tax return docs. That will keep the media busy for weeks, no doubt.
An innocent man would not be working so hard to hide the evidence of his innocence. I am thinking we have a criminal in the Oval Office and a band of conspirators to boot.
15
Meanwhile, we are relying on Israeli intelligence and sending warships to Iran. Please Navy, just say no! Iran is our friend. We'll see his returns soon enough.
3
Trump obviously has a lot to hide. Meanwhile, Michael Cohen went to prison yesterday just for doing what his boss, Trump, instructed him to. Instructing a subordinate to commit crimes is a crime as well.
10
As of 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, May 7, the list of Justice Department officials and federal agents had grown to 634 and was still growing. Click that sentence and be up to the minute.
4
He denied the House of Representatives his tax returns, not Democrats.
12
@PJ Hoberman
But Democrats were the only ones who care. Trump should be held in contempt of Democrats.
1
We have always known that it would all end up like this. A smorgasbord of constitutional crises piled on one another, resembling a rotting onion of corruption with the President at its stinking core.
It appears as if the clear strategy of the USA AG, Trump, The GOP, and Mitch McConnell is Annihilation of the opposition regardless of the damage being done to our Democracy.
The bigger question is how do we, as a supposedly country founded on the rule of law, get out of this pickle when Republicans never intend to comply with any laws, and are committed to the annihilation of any Democratic efforts to protect our form of government, so long as Republicans win and keep all of their criminal activity from view. The corruption and obstruction going on now encompasses the White House, the Senate and the Judiciary.
It is no longer about anything else but obstruction of justice and annihilation of the opposition at any cost.
Republicans have now made this much clear. And, they will continue to lie, cheat and steal till they achieve their goals.
What will be left when their bonfire consumes itself will be a third rate Banana Republic run by Banana Republicans enriching themselves and the President.
11
It is sad. The Left continues to ignore the message and focus on shooting the messenger. This after almost 2 yrs of me having to listen to my liberal friends boasting “You just wait til Mueller’s report comes out and Trump is toast”. That report is out and finalized. Now the results aren’t accepted, Nadler has been invited to read the interacted report in private and refuses. Yes quite sad that the hatred that Clinton did not win is still alive in the liberal community.
3
It's very confusing why Americans, as a society, do not demand Congress take care of their constitutional duties.
Trump and his entire clan are obviously corrupted grifters just working non stop to fleece the American taxpayer. Trump is simply proving the corruption runs from top to bottom in the GOP.
The end of our democracy is drawing near. Until real men and women of moral character can be elected this country will continue to drift off into the world of "advanced" corruption, moral decay, and move towards total chaos.
6
Mnuchin's comment that "the committee’s request is unprecedented" is correct, but it is unprecedented only because the President's behavior and failure to voluntarily release his tax returns is unprecedented. I think we can all agree Trump has moved us into unprecedented times.
10
What exactly will Trump's tax returns help clear up and why does it matter ?
3
Why doesn't Mueller give congress a copy of the report directly? Forget tradition and the law which ended when Trump said he couldn't release his tax returns.
6
I'm just curious if the readership understands the ability of a grifter clan like Trumps to manipulate the commodities markets for their own personal gain.
Do people fully understand the ability of a President to make "crazy" announcements to the world simply for the sake of moving markets?
Short the S&P futures in accounts on a massive scale then make an announcement that will obviously torch the China trade deal?
Make statements to push down the price of crude oil then actively demonstrate a desire to start a conflict that will cause Iran to close the Strait of Hormuz, forcing the price of crude higher?
This is the real crime that is not being looked into.
6
The White House belongs to the American people.
The President of the United States is the temporary hired help of the American people.
The President of the United States is subject to the checks and balances of the American Constitution that gives rights, powers and obligations to other branches of our divided limited different power constitutional republic of united states along with the states and the people.
When Donald Trump speaks on behalf of his personal, family and business profitable advantage he is acting on behalf of golf, resort, hotel and office tower interests and values.
Instead of conflating and confusing Trump with the White House the mass media should say- Mar-a Lago or Bedminster aka Trump Tower says. I do not want my White House stained with the actions of the Trump day time swarming locusts and night time crawling roaches.
" Mar- a- Lago says no to releasing Donald Trump's income tax returns".
17
Politics has blinded justice.
5
The Attorney General is the Attorney of the AMERICAN people not the personal lawyer of the President. His job is to protect the law whatever the results may be.
William Barr should know this, unless maybe he got his degree from Trump University.
15
Would they please quite "threatening" and do something?
I tire of all the posturing.
If the Dems can't put out a meal, they need to get out of the kitchen.
9
"Show me a Politician who is poor, and I will show you a poor Politician" -unknown
The 1924 law that compels "any" US citizen to provide Congress with tax returns was in response to bribing of Albert Bacon Fall . What tipped off his criminal activity? His standard of living took a sudden and big improvement.
Trump however, hid his true wealth from the public, but always projected the life style of a Billionaire. I'm sure the 1924 law covers that charade also. Oversight is oversight!
5
Why hasn’t Barr already Brenner held in contempt?! Why hasn’t he been impeached and arrested? Why hasn’t Mueller already been subpoenaed? Why haven’t Ivanka, McGhan, Jared and Donald Jr been subpoenaed? Why on earth did Pelosi say that impeachment was off the table? What is Pelosi doing? What is she thinking?
If Pelosi is not up to the job, she needs to be replaced.
6
One good reason not to impeach is that it gives us Pence and he is potentially worse than Trump.
1
The Attorney General smeared himself by lying twice in the last few months. Once when he was in Confirmation hearings and again when he appeared before the Judiciary Committee.
Why Trump can get away with having McGhan and others ignore subpoenas appears to be criminal in and of itself. Trump is trying to Obstruct Justice once again.
There is precedent set already regarding impeachment and jail time for Barr by the fact that John Mitchell was impeached and sent to jail when he was Attorney General for lying and obstructing the investigation into Nixon.
There is further precedent also set to have Barr questioned by Attorneys be the mere fact that the Republicans recently engaged an outside Prosecutor from Arizona to question Blaisey-Ford in the Kavanaugh Hearings.
The White House and the Republicans in Congress should stop playing these games. They all are supposed to abide by their sworn oaths to put our Country first, to uphold the laws of the United States and uphold the Constitution. They are failing miserably.
6
Why would someone with nothing illegal or embarrassing to hide go to the mat to hide his tax returns? Just asking....
13
@marks
Ask Bernie Sanders. Embarrassing is not the same as illegal.
I don’t know how anyone who actually listens to Trump speak for over10 minutes can support him in any way, shape or form. I've said this from the beginning and I say it again today. Trump is like a spoiled rotten five-year-old who keeps pushing the boundaries of his new world and he will not stop, I repeat, will not stop, until someone or something stops him. He keeps people in his immediate existence corrupt and faithful by intimidation and fear and he keeps his fan base entertained and angry by being an ever-so-slightly more polished Archie Bunker who claims to be abused by the United States of America’s rule of law and its guardians. I never thought I’d live to see the day where our country is left vulnerable to be constantly crippled and dishonored by such a vile and corrupt man.
16
Why just threaten Barr ? Why are the Dems hesitating, he is obviously in contempt of Congress, which is contempt of the people.What does Barr have to do for the Dems to act?What are the Dems afraid of. Our Democracy is at stake we must bring these criminals down.
10
“No legislative purpose”? How about oversight! I know it is something Mr. Trump has never had in his life. As a spoiled rich kid who never worked for anyone but his father, he never had to take direction or be beholding to an unrelated superior like most of the rest of us have had to do. Most of us have to be accountable to someone. But Trump doesn’t. Our laws and the Constitution obviously don’t seem to apply to him or his minions.
9
Barr and Trump obviously have contempt for Congress. And Congress should hold them in contempt in turn.
13
Seriously, what is he so afraid of? Or is this just a ‘told you so, nothing there’ ploy. Either way, truth has a way of eventually being revealed. And then maybe, just maybe, we can all get on with more important things in life like looking after our families.
3
Just vote trump out in 2020 and let the Southern District put him behind bars.
4
Why does the NY Times write such "softball" headlines. The headline should read:
Barr joins White House in criminal collusion to bar over-site and the Pursuit of Truth, Liberty and Justice:
Congress Must Act at once to Impeach.
Article text in summary:
Democrats must act decisively now in order to prove the utter depravity and corruption of the GOP representatives and senators as well as the purging of every major agency in Washington and at every level from The President through the Department of "Justice's" new appointed Federalist Society hyper partisan hack and the ever increasing body of brain washed judicial automatons occupying 5 seats of the "supreme" Court is just the beginning of Bar, Leo's good friend, intends to accomplish through keeping Trump in power. By the way, they intend to start a war wherever they can to distract from the obvious criminal act. These people are evil. When will Pelosi act, or is she just another actor in a theater of fake democracy?
With nothing being done to discourage cyber hacking by the President, our democratic republic has never been under greater threat of attack by the Chinese, North Koreans and Russia, of which the latter two Trump has unusually "good relations". The time to act and act boldly is now Speaker Pelosi. Either be an American super hero or leave the legacy of yet another sold out coward.
5
We appear to have two systems of law in America.
One system will arrest, physically attack or otherwise prosecute you if you refuse to comply with lawful orders.
Police officers will jump on, beat down, and choke to death a man whose alleged crime was selling cigarettes on a street corner.
Whistleblowers who expose the Empire's crimes are jailed for years for refusing to testify, as is Chelsea Manning right now.
But when the president and his gang openly defy the constitution, special prosecutors, and Congress, when the president and his gang members lie to Congress and law enforcement, no swift action is taken.
The people responsible for holding the miscreants to account appear to agonize about whether they should hold the miscreants to account.
Let's face it--the Dems are weakly complicit.
Remember when Obama had the chance to investigate the many criminal acts committed by W and Cheney to lie us into the Iraq War--but didn't.
We live in a nation of laws, except for the ruling elites.
10
The Dems want Trump’s personal tax records for personal and political revenge. They could care less about whether it is good for the American people. So Trump is right to follow the Dems approach the past 3 years: Resist.
3
When will House Dems stop threatening and start DOING?
Barr should have been cited for contempt of Congress and jailed long ago, for lying to Congress, for failing to provide the unredacted Mueller report and for failing to show up at the commitee hearing. Mnuchin should have been cited for contempt of Congress and jailed for failing to comply with House demands for Trump's tax returns. Stop voting, threatening and setting mushy deadlines that pass without any repercussions. Act, for heavens sake, act!
5
Is there not a difference between Congressional oversight, and “an investigation in search of a crime?” Did not the Mueller investigation teach the opposing party anything? Do the democrats hope there is something under the Trump tax returns rock? And if not, move on to the next hopeful investigation? Polls consistently show that independents (as close to non-partisans as we get these days) feel Congress needs to move on with the people’s business. Otherwise this just looks more and more like one party harassing the winner of the 2016 election.
2
After reading some of the comments, many readers seem to assume that absent the instant gratification of the requested documents by 2 day delivery, delivery will not occur.
I hope this is the first step of a necessary and successful effort by Congress to get those tax records and reveal information in to the public if the findings point to presidential bad behavior.
Trump said before the election he'd release his tax information, and then he refused. The present situation is no different on the Trump side, except that Congress has follow up options after the request to obtain the tax forms.
Even if failure to comply is the Trump modus operandi, this time, Democrats in the House have to see the subpoena produce the documents. Speed is less important than getting the information in full so that the public can finally know what's going on.
3
The angle I see emerging is that the current administration is declaring itself exempt from regular law because of the wealth of its members. Regular citizens, to say nothing of the officials regular citizens elect to high office, are not allowed to outright refuse and then dictate the terms of lawful subpoenas issued by Congress. The Trump executive branch is clearly using a strategy of refusing to comply, then stalling the response by filing lawsuits. It's how Trump has conducted his entire professional life -- he simply has the money to hire private attorneys to constantly delay the possibility of him ever having to answer for his actions. It's obvious that Trump and Mnuchin have reached the point of wealth where the law doesn't matter, because they both have the money to buy themselves out from ever having to answer to it. Today, judges across America will issue warrants for the arrest hundreds of people for failing to appear in court for unpaid traffic tickets. Steve Mnuchin will have a regular day at one of the highest offices in the country, the day after telling Congress that he's simply going to ignore their lawful request for information.
7
Barbara Jordan said, “My faith in the Constitution is whole, it is complete, it is total. I am not going to sit here and be an idle spectator to the diminution, the subversion, the destruction of the Constitution.”
She said this at the impeachment hearings of Nixon.
We had better not sit idle either, and neither should Congress.
10
This article should be titled Republicans break the law. I’m old enough to remember when the GOP claimed to be for textualism regarding the law. The law is as clear as can be on congress requesting tax returns.
5
“Democrats got some backup on Monday when more than 375 former Justice Department officials and federal prosecutors who had worked for Republican and Democratic administrations released a letter asserting that Mr. Trump would have been charged with obstruction of justice if he had not been protected by a Justice Department policy that says a sitting president cannot be indicted.”
In other words, if the president does it, then it is right, as Nixon famously said.
3
The full Mueller report is available to 12 members of congress to read. That seems fair. There are legitimate reasons for redactions. Put a committee together and go read the thing. The democrats want the report to be released to all of the house so it can be leaked to the press. Safety in numbers. This way there are hundreds of possible people that could have leaked out the report. Not just twelve.
3
"Upon written request from the chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives, the chairman of the Committee on Finance of the Senate, or the chairman of the Joint Committee on Taxation, the Secretary shall furnish such committee with any return or return information specified in such request..." It will be fun to see the "plain text" adherents on the Supreme Court wiggle out of the plaint text of this law. There is nothing in the plain text of the law that gives Mnuchin the power to determine if the request is motivated by a "legitimate legislative purpose." Gorsuch, Alito, Roberts, Kavanaugh, and Thomas will have to have a couple of kegs to tie themselves into enough knots to say that Mnuchin wins.
4
Close your eyes and just imagine for just one minute if this situation was reversed and the democrats were refusing to follow the rule of law. What if, instead of being grilled by Congress for over 11 hours, Hillary Clinton had refused to appear? How long and how far have the republicans been allowed to abuse their opponents? If the democrats don't hold the line on this and fight for the rule of law and our Constitution, I'm afraid it's all over for our democracy. They must stop bringing knives to gun fights. The republicans don’t want to reach an accommodation or negotiate; they want to win, and they want to win at all costs.
7
At this point, we, as a nation, are on the verge of an extremely steep downhill slide into a dictatorship. The president, and, apparently all his henchmen, seem determined to defy the constitution at every turn. The Congress (at this point, the House of Representatives) seems to be the only part of government which wants to maintain the rule of law, rather than the rule of one man. I congratulate them, but I'm afraid that, so far, they are quite outnumbered by people who blindly follow the example of the current resident of the White House.
This is not what our founders fought and died for. This is totally against every grain of decency that the American way of life and law was founded upon. If something is not done, and rather quickly, to change this downhill slide, I see no hope at all for the continuation of the American dream. I am 83 years old, and will probably live out my life without experiencing the coming revolution - but I doubt that the young folk coming up in the world now will be able to look back from their vantage point in the future, and be proud to be an American. Sad.
7
I am still confused by the Democrats. Is is still possibly true that they have not issued any subpoenas yet, that they are still, after weeks of threats are now re-opening negotiations with Barr and on "prioritizing the sharing of certain raw evidence" that Barr will deem appropriate after he takes some more time.
Also from what I am aware of , Cummings Oversight Committee has also gone into the deep freeze after the Trump Administration has called its bluff and laughed at its threats of subpoenas and other legal action.
The only meaningful action I see from Democrats is Pelosi and Schumer meeting with Trump to try to get major infrastructure work kick-started as their major Construction Company's lobbyists are starting to demand som return on investments.
4
I would ask Americans to return to “foundational” basics and put aside partisan politics and political favorites. Article I powers are provided to Congress to pursue oversight of Executive Article 2 powers. Neither the Department of Justice not the Department of Treasury can pretend to invoke Article 2 and Judicial powers to relieve the Executive of potential abuses of Powers. Such relief comes from Congress and Congress only. There is something corrupt in the Executive when its Departments pretend such powers. It does not matter which Party is in power. It matters if Article 1, Article 2, and Judicial powers are fairly and justly administered.
We have seen Executive dismissal of congressional subpoenas before. One should question why the Executive is abusing its powers, not why Congress is pursuing its Article 2 powers. Congress pursuing their powers is not a weakness; it is the right thing to do. Such crises have been experienced many times in my lifetime. Each time, the stress and anxiety placed upon the American people unnecessarily.
Americans need to put their politics aside and focus on the constitutional system of Checks and Balances for truth, Justice, and fairness to prevail so our democratic Republic prevails. When Congress abuses its powers, we have seen a different majority in power for the next Congress. When we see a president abusing powers, so great are Article 2 powers, we have seen corruption increase exponentially and Impeachment more a reality.
2
Democrats have another problem, and it is "perceived weakness." For the first two years of Trump's Presidency, the Democratic leadership was complacent, and that weakness contributed to Trump's perception he can do as he wishes. We need to see strong, bold leadership from the Democrats. No latitude. No negotiation. Move ahead with contempt charges... but explain to Americans very clearly and concisely WHY these charges are being made. And Democrats really need to take a critical look at their leadership which is conveying the message. Jerry Nadler does not come across as a strong, articulate leader. Identify other legislators to speak for the House.
3
History has always shown us that no one rises to power on their own, they build a group that will support them no matter what they do.
By selecting the right people Trump has set up a situation whereby our checks and balances are failing us as a nation.
Hopefully this is a learning moment in history and not a defining one.
4
Trump filed NYS income tax returns.
These NYS returns must have much of the same information that are in Trump's federal returns.
My understanding is that NYS has asked for Trump's NYS returns.
Mnuchin Barr et. al. can not control NYS actions.
19
@david
Can Congress subpoena NY tax records?
The Mueller report, even redacted by Trump's lackey, William Barr, reveals enough information to justify further Congressional investigation into Trump's finances. Trump has been linked to Russian money launderers for years. There is major legal precedent and a Constitutional mandate for the House of Representatives to investigate any and all suspected wrong-doing on the part of the executive branch. The Democrats must use every technique available to them to obtain information that may to be critical to our national security.
When a witness in a congressional inquiry ignores a subpoena—and refuses either to testify before a committee or hand over requested documents—the committee can vote to issue a citation for contempt.
".. person cited may arrested by the Sergeant-at-Arms for the House, brought to the floor of the chamber, held to answer charges by the presiding officer, and then subjected to punishment as the chamber may dictate (usually imprisonment for punishment reasons, imprisonment for coercive effect, or release from the contempt citation)." Garvey, Todd (May 12, 2017).
"Congress's Contempt Power and the Enforcement of Congressional Subpoenas: Law, History, Practice, and Procedure"
13
It would seem that Democrats must decide whether they actually want the tax returns, or whether they want the show of fighting to get them. If they really want them, then the principle of Congressional authority is far more important that the wall. They need to use their legislative powers to get them by withholding something essential. Asking the executive branch or the judicial branch to please respect their authority is simply announcing that they are an inferior branch to the other two.
8
Why do all newspaper articles say it will take months or years for the courts to act? This is an emergency. In Bush v Gore the courts acted quickly. Why not now? The issues are limited and straightforward.
11
Since Trump "broke decades of precedent by not releasing his tax returns while running for president," the special counsel and the Congress should break decades of precedent and indict a sitting president for several crimes...obstruction, bribery, campaign finance violations, etc.
It's insane that we have to have a discussion about each of these issues. The nation that began because its founders didn't want to live under a king has set up a structure that allows a de-facto king.
14
@Jose Pieste
You got me. Congress doesn't indict, although contempt of Congress (ignoring a subpoena) and perjury are crimes under federal statute.
Now, since you're a wide-awake scholar on federal law, and you've read the entire Mueller report, I'm sure you remember that it said: “If we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the President clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state. Based on the facts and the applicable legal standards, we are unable to reach that judgement.” I think that the legal standard being applied is that a sitting president can't be indicted. But we'll know for certain when Mueller testifies before Congress.
My point is that the insane "legal standard" of indicting a president is simply a Justice Department policy created under another crooked GOP administration...that of Richard Nixon.
2
Well it staggers the imagination to read these comments and realise how little understanding the public has about the true nature of our governing structure. The "Founders" belief that the republic would be overseen by people's of moral content that would put the greater good above their own and by electing George Washington as an example of that reasoning, laid down the belief system that would guide us for generations. But it is only a belief system and as such all it takes to tear it down are people who are willing for their own purposes not to comply. The hubris of the present administration and it's lack of belief in that system will lead us to have too answer the ultimate schoolyard taunt "You and what army "
10
Nobody seems to have reported on whether the 1924 law requiring the DOJ to provide tax records to the Congress is or is not compliant with the Fourth Amendment guarantee of the "right of the people to be secure in their .... papers." Rather that quibbling over whether the Congress has a "legitimate legislative purpose" in demanding these records, Sec. Mnuchin could be challenging the constitutionality of the law that authorizes the demand. A job for Adam Liptak or Linda Greenhouse.
2
When are democrats going to level with their constituents? They must know that their fight for tax returns will very likely be lost. Do they not care because it's more about "fighting" to prove something to their leftwing?
7
@AACNY, I believe you are wrong. The Federal law on this seems straight forward.
3
AACNY, while I’m sure that facts are irrelevant to your comments they remain facts. & this law and its history indicate that your wrong again.
Under 26 U.S. Code § 6103. Confidentiality and disclosure of returns and return information. Congress has the right to the con dons returns. Like the situation discribed below your hero Trump is an incompetent and corrupt president with much to hide.
Harding, who presided over one of the more inept and corrupt administrations in U.S. history. He never really expected to be president, and described himself as “a man of limited talents,” who wasn’t “fit for the office and should never have been here.”
Harding surrounded himself with toadies and yes-men who swiftly began helping themselves to the spoils of office. The resulting scandals would keep Congress busy with investigations for several years afterward.
Like Harding, Trump is inept and corrupt, turning over the rock that is his tax returns will allow things to crawl out that Trump would prefer to remain hidden. That too is a fact his supporters would rather avoid.
6
It may prove fruitless, but congress must bring any and all actions at its disposal to conduct oversight of the executive branch of government. We were taught from childhood that no man is above the law; now we are to find out if that is true. Once we survive this crisis, we can turn our attention to the confusion, deception, and ignorance that has plagued the world for centuries. The time has come.
In the near future, we will program the human mind in the computer based on a "survival" algorithm, which will provide irrefutable proof as to how we trick the mind with our ridiculous beliefs about what is supposed to survive - producing minds programmed de facto for destruction. These minds see the survival of a particular belief as more important than the survival of us all. When we understand all this, we will begin the long trek back to reason and sanity.
See RevolutionOfReason.com
3
The Democratic Party. The party that was so mad it almost said something. Amazing. I still say they need enlist Senator Feinstein for another one of those fearsome "silent protests".
There is one big difference between now and Watergate: now the entire Republican Party is in on the coverup.
11
Forget the stupid tax returns. As I have said for years, why does anybody think they would be truthful or accurate anyway? The tax returns might or might not shed light on the scope and scale of Trump's shady dealings, but they are irrelevant and unnecessary for holding Trump accountable for the already-known impeachable offenses.
1
A few facts:
1.) 12 members (6 Democrats and 6 Republicans) already have access to a less-redacted version of the Special Counsel report; only 2 Republicans have bothered to view it.
2.) Congress can always subpoena Mueller.
3.) And as far as holding Barr in contempt of Congress? Good luck with that. Eric Holder, former AG in the Obama administration, was held in contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with subpoenas from the Oversight Committee. Obama claimed executive privilege. The House went to court, but Obama ran out the clock, and Holder went unpunished.
Welcome to the world of politics!
7
@Xyce
Most Americans didn't think Trump was a Russian spy. Mueller's report confirmed their views. One can only imagine what they think of the democrats' endless pursuit of charges. Beating a dead horse.
1
@Xyce
Mueller will soon be free to comply. Much sooner than a court battle conclusion.
3
And elected Republicans are all MIA.
5
What taxes? Obviously this emperor pays none! What else explains how no one as yet has been able to do the right and patriotic thing...Leak those taxes...should they exist.
6
What is Trump hiding? Why is he acting like a guilty person?
He is hiding the evidence that he is guilty of crimes and traitorous behavior. He knows his base would leave him in the dust if they knew the information that he is hiding.
Take him to court. Get his dirty laundry aired out. Show the American people what a vile choice they made for President in 2016.
7
Apparently, Trump now has his Roy Cohn.
Where is our Daniel Ellsberg?
10
Let's see some tweets about how excited people should be to vote next year for someone who, upon leaving office, should be indicted for multiple felonies.
8
The NYT needs to start a daily update series: The Trump Administration: At War With America.
9
It would not surprise me in the slightest if Trump's original tax-returns never see the light of a forensic accountant's desk lamp. The entrenched resistance blocking their release only adds to the mystery surrounding his wealth, contacts, sources of funding, indebtedness (and to whom) - which an audit would reveal. I would applaud the IRS for their 'by the book' protection of a right to privacy - but affairs of state should take precedence over any individual's right to protect confidential information from Congressional scrutiny. Besides, Congress have the legislative right to access Trump's financial legerdemain - should there be any - under the 1924 'committee access' law. So now, Mnunchin is breaking the law by refusing to comply with a legitimate Congressional demand.
14
Deja Vu
From the NY Times 2012
" The House of Representatives on Thursday voted to hold Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. in contempt for failing to disclose internal Justice Department documents in response to a subpoena. It was the first time in American history that Congress has imposed the sanction on a sitting member of a president’s cabinet."
Obama stalled..it was not until 2016 that Holder testified
3
i am so old....i remember when the gop was supposed to be the law and order party.....i did not understand that law and order was for others and not themselves
18
The only parties involved in collusion with outside influence on
US elections were - the FBI and the Clinton bunch - a tiresome Dem tactic --- when accused deflect the same charge on the opposition -- reinforce same with biased media - and ignore the real crimes.. but alas --- indictments by the scores
await in the wings ...
3
Indictment of Trumps cronies? Those are the only cases under prosecution.
2
Congress, keep this pot boiling. Proceed with "all deliberate speed." Let the obstructive dance proceed for all to see.
11
But the more important matter before the House Democrats is to initiate an impeachment inquiry on Trump. Why this isn’t everyone’s focus like a laser beam I have no clue. Mueller clearly handed over an impeachment roadmap on a golden platter to Congress and no one is taking this up seriously. It is their duty!!! They should already have drawn up Articles by now. There is no downside to a right side up argument for impeachment. Are they all delusional? The “I” word should be hammered across in the media every day by the 2020 candidates. It will be the only method to finally get to all of the underlying documents and evidence and show the world who we are dealing with here. This slow meandering by the Democrats is really pathetic. Why can’t they get tough and show some guts? They are looking foolish and are endangering another 4 years of damage being inflicted on the country by this criminal in office. Take up the mantel Pelosi!
7
@Harrison
Impeach on what High Crimes please?
2
@Chuck. Obstruction of course. In addition they need to create new laws to make accepting election help from a hostile government a crime.
5
@Chuck - The one(s) they're going to such great lengths to cover up. Innocent people don't behave this way. It's as evident as the nose on your face, assuming you can still see it given your refusal to see the massive cover up in front of them.
3
Just to clarify: Are these are the same Tax Returns that Trump said he would make public after his “audit” ?
Ahhh....,
16
Trump is obviously a liar and a cheat, so who can say how many misdeeds are hidden in his tax returns. If he had nothing to hide he clearly would have released his tax returns already, as is the custom.
More troubling to me is that we not only have a criminal in the White House but that our Congress has not been able to muster the resolve to provide oversight over his actions. We have been on the path toward having a king rather than a president for some time now and Trump is ramping up this ugly process. Soon it will be impossible to even pretend that the US is a democracy, regardless of your political views.
11
@Jim Dickinson
You nailed it. It is ‘custom’ not ‘law’ , ergo he does not need to show anyone!
1
@Chuck: The House can request his tax returns. The operative word is 'shall' not 'maybe' or 'depending on the president'. No, it says 'shall' turn over.....
I guess we'll get a parsing of 'shall' in three or four years.
Our democracy is dead. All that's left is politics and corrupt and weak politicians.
3
Does anyone know if an IRS employee who had access to Trump's returns and knows about shady deductions, etc would be protected under the whistle blower statutes.
12
Perhaps an approach to tease the records out would be to accuse Trump of something that may well be in them. Then let him prove that they're false. Force him to act.
4
First that the Congress is arguing about whether staff attorneys can ask Barr questions as part of a public inquiry or not is pretty pathetic. Their bosses can't ask those questions directly themselves? Crazy posturing.
That said, we are in a constitutional crisis. No more talk folks, hold Barr and Mnuchin in contempt of Congress and walk away from the mics and the media on this...except when there is something news worthy to discuss.
In the meantime, move on to other things like healthcare and immigration reform.
5
@JL1951: How about Congress focuses only on keeping the 2020 election safe and free from Putti who will do what he can to 'elect' Trump again? There's an enormous amount of work to do there. We, The People must be able to trust this all important next election.
1
I agree with Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), "If Trump once again faces only Republican silence and Democratic timidity, he will continue to erode our democracy by assuming more and more power."
I wonder how far into a dictatorship we have to fall before we wake up!
13
Barr was the messenger from the Democrat’s messiah who delivered a message that the Left did not want to hear/be told. Now, with the AG and the IG rightly digging into the genesis of The Hoax, the Left is crying “ liar, contempt, lackey, impeach “ and any other word that MSM will help them spread in hopes that the citizenry will bite on the latter rather than the former.
Sorry but two things are factual: 1. There is no law requiring POTUS taxes to be released. 2. The law was broken by Obama FBI/DOJ with the Clintons in cahoots. This is going to be great theater
3
@Chuck. This is not "theatre" people's lives are at stake. This is important and should be taken very seriously.
4
There most certainly is a law which requires disclosure of any taxpayer’s return to the Congress. And Congress must be provided with all information necessary to execute their constitutionally required function of oversight.
2
@Chuck
The problem is Mueller's own findings now contradict Mueller, himself. He wants to have both his opinion and findings, but his job was to find not opine.
Enough of this obstruction by Trump & spineless Republican party .Trump thinks he is a King as does whatever he wants ,he is violating the law .Congress has the right to see full Muller report ,Barr should be held in contempt, he is a shield for Trump
10
50% Americans believes that Trump ought to be impeached, and of those who don’t want impeachment, there must be a substantial number of people who believe that impeachment might help him get reelected, even though he is clearly guilty.
The current stonewalling of the tax returns and the full Mueller report by Barr and the President are further attempts to obstruct justice by running out the clock, through the judicial process.
Given the public’s acceptance as fact that the President is an inveterate liar and criminal—what is Congress waiting for? Impeach now, and let Republican legislators defend the indefensible.
10
@John C
I suggest impeach eventually. Keep this obstruction on the front pages as long as possible.
2
@John C. Please enlighten us. Guilty of what, exactly? If he were guilty of a crime wouldn’t Mueller have brought charges after 22 months of investigation with 28 Democratic investigative lawyers on staff?
1
@Chuck, Mueller could not indict the President because the Office of Legal Council guideline indicating a sitting President could not be indicted. The OLC is part of the DOJ in case you forgot.
And now you say there were 28 Democratic investigative lawyers on the staff of the SC. C'mon, that number increases with every passing day. Good Grief.
1
Trump and Barr and Mnuchin get away with all of this because Republicans are not standing up for what is right.
If this had been a Democratic president, Republicans would have already impeached and convicted.
14
Why would his returns be honest or lawful. He doesn’t operate that way. And, is Barr his personal attorney, or the federal government’s attorney general?
7
The whole trump cabal is acting in concert to protect a criminal president - innocent people don't behave this way.
Given what we've been allowed to see of the Mueller report and Barr's attempt to hide the rest, Mnuchin's refusal to release trump's taxes, trump's continuing bromance w/Putin, his 10,000 plus lies, his history of graft, his blatant in-your-face low down, unethical, amoral, violence inciting behavior and total disregard for law screams guilty.
And they're all willing to shatter every norm, break every rule, and brazenly flout the law to keep him and themselves in power.
Whatever trump is hiding, and the many desperate people around him going to such lengths to hide it, it must be pretty big. Makes one wonder just how far they will go. We know trump has an affinity for strongmen who eliminate their enemies by unpleasant means.
Every day, another line crossed into lawlessness. Very, very worrisome.
11
Why do I have this uncomfortable feeling that "Oversight of the Executive Branch by Congress" and "Checks & Balances" only seem to be constructs of wishful thinking ?
Why does it seem to suffice for Barr or Mnuchin or McGahn to simply say "No, we won´t" - when asked to show up in or turn over documents to Congress?
Why does it ALWAYS seem to be a atter of interpretation or spin and not of coded law what the respective Committees can and what they cannot do or demand?
How, then, is "Oversight" supposed to work at all if everything seems to be "subject to spin"?
Dear America, as much as I hate to admit it, my respect for your juridical system as well as for what you call "democracy" (with it´s weird ingredients of gerrymandering, an outdated Electoral system, PACs and SuperPacs , abused voter rights etc ) is constantly being eroded. I wished it were not so. A confused friend.
358
@Wolfgang--Very sad for me to say but I do agree with your analysis====sad for my country.
44
@Wolfgang. You have long term loss of short term memory. Remember Fadt and Furious and AG Holder?
6
@Chuck
Let's all hope Chuck feels better now.
Seriously though Chuck, we're focused on the current. Which is one of the many causes of 'erosion'.
26
The only issue is the Democrats lacking the grit to follow through with perfectly legitimate and reasonable requests for information. The vote for contempt is scheduled for Wednesday. Don't delay it, Democrats. Barr has had plenty of notice. Treasury sec'y Mnuchin has missed "a series" of deadlines for providing documents ... oh come on, what does it take, folks? One deadline missed is one too many. The Democrats do want to make sure all the t's are crossed and i's dotted, but this timid behavior all the more gives fuel to lawless members of the Trump Administration who are now coming to know that they can delay and delay. These folks like Barr, especially, are often not even respectful when testifying. Know your power, Democrats, and wield it appropriately but with resolution.
6
It's black letter law, not open to interpretation. Mnuchin should be cited for contempt and be arrested. Same with Barr. We have an entire administration that doesn't think that any laws apply to them, or oversight from Congress, starting with the President. This must be stopped.
8
Maybe holding Barr and Mnuchin in contempt is ultimately an exercise in futility, but I still want some justice. So Democrats: 1) Hold both Barr and Mnuchin in contempt for refusing to turn over documents Congress is entitled to see; (2) and in Barr’s case for failing to appear; (3) and bring in Mueller.
5
I would love to see Trump's tax returns also but at this stage I really don't care. I do not need to see Trump's returns to know he is a Scoundrel. My Bridges are falling down the seasons are out of whack and the schools aren't teaching.My friends are having to work two jobs just to make ends meet and their college educated children are living at home. We waited for two years hoping Republican Mueller would deliver us from Trump and he bunted. Trump is up in the polls and with the economy on fire we, The Left, better come up with something other than The Trump is a crook playbook. Infrastructure and Climate would be a good start. We have reached saturation on the Bad Boy Trump news
4
“Congress Threatens to Hold Barr in Contempt as White House Guards Tax Returns” seems like a more accurate and less partisan headline in my perspective.
3
IMO the head of the IRS should he held in contempt first put the pressure on the little guy.
3
@GladF7
Why would Americans jeopardize the integrity of the primary revenue collecting Agency to appease a political vendetta against an opposing party's president?
Does the left care at all about any institutions at this point? They claim to be concerned about our country but are the first to abuse and/or destroy anything that stands in their way. Exhibit A: Electoral College.
CLEARLY the administration is obstructing justice to cover up crimes. How much crime, and committed on how many continents we have yet to find out
A letter is circulating penned by former US Federal Prosecutors that as of last night had more than 500 cosigners. It says in no uncertain terms that just from the redacted Mueller report it is clear that the only reason Trump is not under indictment already is the DoJ "policy" on not indicting a sitting president.
With a traitor at the helm of DoJ that will not change, but New York state is working towards criminal charges for the Trump Syndicate. Hopefully other states where he has committed crimes will follow their lead. Additionally it is the Constitutional duty of the House to start a Select Committee to investigate the crime family as a precursor to impeachment
3
It's not oversight, it's just prying and politics. Trump has a right to privacy, the same as all of us. Some past presidents released their tax returns for political reasons, he keeps them private for the same reasons. Treat others the way you wish to be treated.
3
I keep hearing this from the media: What are the Democrats going to do about this? Why not ask: what is Congress going to do about this? What are Republicans and Democrats going to do about this? This is about protecting the US Constitution. It's not a football game. There are not two sides in this regard. There is only one side, the US Constitution. They Congress Republicans and Democrats must protect it. Enough of the baby stuff, please.
5
What is the Congress legislative purpose for requesting Trump's tax returns? That is a rhetorical question. there isn't any valid legislative purpose. The Democrats want or demand Trump's tax returns because they are looking for something to use against him to impeach him or charge him with a crime from the day he beat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election. So far after multiple investigations there hasn't been any evidence gathered that will allow the Democrats to do what they so desperately want to do. That is to impeach Trump with some real evidence or to charge him with a crime notwithstanding the DOJs policy not to indict a sitting president. Trump tax returns when they finally come out aren't going to tell the investigators anything to further their quest. It is almost certain that the Mueller team has already looked at trump's tax returns and if there was anything their to find they would have found it. They are trained prosecutors and came up empty. It is obvious the Democrats want more substantiation to impeach trump. Well they don't really need any because they can impeach him now regardless of evidence of criminal wrong doing. I think they are just "Chicken" as the accused Barr of being such. The only reason the Democrats are not impeaching Trump is becuae they are afraid it will help him isrtead of hurt him.
3
@NYchap....Congress gets to determine the legislative need not you or the WH. It's pretty simple stuff. The Constitution spells it out...ready to throw it out?
1
@NYChap
Today Congress is king. When Obama was president they were all about executive rights.
I fear that by presenting this as a “showdown” between the president and “Democrats” the article is minimizing what is really a dictatorial challenge to constitutional checks and balances. This is a crisis, not a reality show.
6
Enough already. Lord deliver us from this plague of greed and narcissism. vanity and power-grabbing, incompetence and meanness. It hurts to wake up every morning with this administration wrecking havoc on the nation and the nation's psyche. Rudderless, directionless, helter skelter--it weighs heavily on us all. How much more are we expected to take?
13
Barr epitomizes a professional who acts without shame. He cavalier attitude toward congress is no different than an un-indicted co-conspirator who has a guarantee of a presidential pardon.
6
Democrats should stop playing nice in trying to accommodate all the demands put forth by Barr. The lack of respect the executive branch has for the legislative branch is not only sad and disgusting but very dangerous. While the spineless GOP is sitting watching this circus, Democrats should use every law there is to make this Administration and William Barr accountable for obstructing them in doing their job.
8
Honestly, I think Congress shows a lot more contempt than anybody in the Justice department.
7
Forget Silly-billy Barr.
There's one thing Congress CAN do right now to get things moving. Subpoena a direct response from the Tax Dept itself as to status - ie the truth or otherwIse as to whether DJT's tax returns are (or are not) under audit, and a definitive statement as to legal standing re release for certified inspection by Congress.
A govt dept cannot deny such formal request by Congress for a STATUS REPORT re internal admin. This response should be required to include reference re relevant dates, signatures re lodgement (accountants,lawyers etc) and clear indication of timing, procedures etc should Congress subpoena these directly from the Tax authorities.
It will not provide info re DJT's tax-paying (or otherwise) but it will give Congress the startpoint for a very clear, legally enforceable timeline. This then gives Congress a highly specific context for its next stage of subpoenas geared to to DJT tax professionals involved.
1
Is Congress actually taking action?
2
"Democrats for years have clamored for Mr. Trump’s tax returns, which they say could show misdeeds and tax evasions"
"Could show", of which they have zero proof of. You cant just make the claim, then declare you have the right to those tax returns, because you "have to get to the bottom of this". You need some sort of evidence to justify upending a citizens right to privacy. Democrats are clamoring for anything they could use to destroy this man. Theyll take the slightest little thingm, and turn it upside down. Besides, Trump has been audited for 10 years in a row. Methinks if there was something there, we would have heard of it by now. Even this Barr business. When in our history has it ever been the job of a prosecutor to "exonerate" the accused? They investigate, then charge, or dont charge. Prosecutors do not expend time and resources in an attempt to prove the accused innocent. This big "AHA" moment Democrats think they have is once again relying on the lowest of low info voter.
3
A question.... can the republican leadership be impeached for obstruction of justice? I believe that the end game of this rabble is by doing nothing they will force democrats to do the right thing, impeach this obstructor, enrage enough timid American electorate souls into a sympathy vote for the crook... and return him for four more years of disaster at the expense of democracy and the Constitution... There was a time, fleeting and gone, when I believed that the Supreme Court would be the final bulwark against this wreak.... how naive.. He reduces everything and everyone he comes in contact with... it’s his life’s story.
9
It’s really past time for the impeachment process to begin. Trump thinks this is Clinton redux and that he can skate away. Dems think this is Watergate but won’t take the chance that Trump is right. He is not. The Dems need to think of why they are here. It’s not to gain re-election or position the party for recapturing the WH in 2020. It’s to do the job laid out in the constitution with all of the risks implied. Get on with it.
11
Fast track to the courts are needed to stop these violations of our Constitution.
2
AG Barr is guilty of contempt of Congress if he refuses a subpoena to testify. He can't refuse without receiving the consequences.
Secretary Mnuchin refusing to hand over Trump's tax returns to the House Ways and Means Committee violates a 1924 law.
Trump and his Administration mistakenly believe they are above the law. We The People voted in the 2018 Democratic-led House of Representatives due to this unConstitutional behavior. At this rate, in 2020 We The People will vote blue tsunami-like, dwarfing the 2018 Blue Wave that swept Republicans from Congress.
4
Trump's tax returns must be solid proof of illegal activity since he is this afraid of disclosure. Congress by law can fire those who thwart its subpoenas. It should exercise this constitutional right. Of course the Republicans don't abide by the Constitution unless it benefits them.
5
@Katherine Kovach
Trump has been audited by the IRS for 10 years in a row.
You dont think they would have picked up on something by now?
4
@Katherine Kovach
It wasn't that long ago that it was going to be Mueller who provided "solid proof" of collusion.
Democrats are playing whack-a-mole at this point.
Just do it Dems.
Stop acting like a party who is wittingly supporting Trump's
culture of corruption.
Americans voted for the Dems in the Midterms to hold Trump
accountable and to make sure that he is impeached for
his conspiracy with Russia to defraud the American people
of having a legitimate election.
But the Dems are failing to act and uphold their elected and
Constitutional duty to do their job and start impeachment
hearings.
Trump and the GOP are trolling the Dems by manipulating their fear of taking any action against Trump, and Nancy
is just not up to the job, as she has said that she is not
prepared to impeach Trump, just like she opposed impeaching Bush.
Step aside Nancy as you are just not up to the elected duty
that the voters have given the Dems. Why should the people vote for the Dems in 2020 when they are failing now to
take any action.
Impeach Trump and act now - or be prepared to be ignored in 2020 by the voters.
5
With all the successful hacking and leaking done in our his world, why on earth doesn’t someone get these.
6
So what's new? Our president is afraid to show us his tax returns, although the rest of us Americans have to turn them in to the government every year? What's the problem?
The problem is that he's still the same coward that he has been since he pretended to have a bone spur in his foot in order to get out of service in our military. He appears to believe that he's better than the rest of us, although he doesn't have the morals of most kindergartners.
And why hasn't he ever been penalized for deliberately lying to get out of military service?
6
There are many things the Democrats have right about this.
But rummaging through anybody's tax returns isn't one of them.
3
There is more than just underreporting and cheating on T-Rump's tax returns. There's probably very good evidence of his collection of emoluments over the past two years, traces of foreign money laundering though his properties, and fiscal involvements with unsavory "persons of interest."
Going over his tax returns will start to open the rabbit hole that is the "trump empire" or house of cons.
4
" not to charge Mr. Trump with obstruction of justice, despite evidence gathered by Mr. Mueller"
If Mueller had any evidence he would have charged Trump or his associates. If he did not he either did not have the evidence or he is not as pure as you were thinking.
Either way, the tax returns,etc.. it is all about Democrats loosing their minds about what the auditor general of DOJ and Barr can possibly uncover in their investigations.
And to hold the AG in contempt for not charging Trump in the context of Mueller report, there were no charges there or recommendation of charges, is just a joke.
2
If Trump stalls Federal investigations into his questionable behaviors surrounding taxes, finance, "philanthropy," and obstruction, then God Bless the Sovereign State of New York in its ongoing investigations.
To date, the only thing Trump hasn't done to disgrace our country even further has been his restraint in appointing R.G. to some high level Cabinet Post.
2
How is it Mnuchin's decision to decide what is a “legitimate legislative purpose,” for Congress?
Dear so-called law and order Republicans do I also get to decide which orders from law enforcement serve a legitimate police purpose or is that right restricted to wealthy Republicans only?
8
Barr won't have to worry about the mark on his record, if he is indeed being held in contempt.
Just as for Eric Holder's standing with Democrats, the contempt vote for Barr would effectively become a Badge of Honor among Republicans and Trump supporters.
In fact, Barr may be looking forward to it. It would cement his standing among the Trumpists and all but ensure that he will transition into a lucrative job in the private sector after his tenure at the JD is up.
Unfortunately, the House can't just do nothing, so they will have to vote to hold him in contempt, since that is thoroughly justified and must be done to uphold the law, but it will ultimately not have the desired effect. On the contrary.
Only a contempt vote coupled with jail time would make a decisive difference.
On another note, I am becoming disillusioned about justice in America: Why is Cohen in jail and Trump is feasting in the White House and partying at Mar-a-Lago, racking up insane bills for Secret Service protection? He was the mastermind behind the schemes that sent Cohen to jail, wasn't he? That much became clear from the Mueller report.
What am I missing?
Would I also be immune from prosecution, if I hire someone to break the law for me?
7
Stop threatening and just do it!
5
Enough talk.
Trump's strategy is to bog up Congressional committees with endless obfuscation, evasive tactics, and non-response responses.
Mnuchin declined the request to provide Trump's tax returns. Mnuchin does not get to decide the legitimate purposes of Congressional inquiries.
When he took this job, Mnuchin swore to support and defend the Constitution of the United States without any purpose of evasion. Mnuchin's statements in his letter all but rescinds that portion of the oath that he took 14 months.
The Ways and Means Committee should immediately issue Mnuchin a subpoena for Trump's returns. When Mnuchin ignores the subpoena, the House Ways and Means Committee should immediately call a vote on a resolution of contempt on Mr. Mnuchin's actions. After it passes, Congress should then immediately refer it to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, who then will immediately refer it to a grand jury for action. Contempt of Congress has criminal penalties of not less than one month nor more than twelve months in jail and a fine of not more than $100,000.
All of those efforts will be time and money well spent, for the good of America and the world.
Let the chips fall where they may.
4
William Barr and the Trump Administration are off the rails on a crazy train.
Congress shall grow a spine and use its powers against this insanity, or America is going down Trump's potty.
3
Start impeachment proceedings. Now.
5
why would a crook and serial tax cheat release his taxes ?
13
NYT’s today: China Trade, Iran Provocations etc. etc. The GOP minority has decided no more pretentiousness—democracy has been crippled so severely it is now functionally obsolete.
Obama, Pelosi, Schumer, Biden etc. fought patiently, civilly and conventionally against a guerrilla insurgency holding to no moral or ethical standards. Simply put the GOP said we don’t follow those old rules and laws anymore.
What is sad is that Dems believe they can win the government back by ‘fair’ elections. Yet they have no ultimate control over determining what’s fair. Friends don’t cheat friends but still “our friends on the other side” seemingly remains a quaint expression of common endearment. GOP’ers went from lying to liars—“speak with fork tongues”. Dems must push all their government options: Judicial and Legislative immediately. Attack unethical conduct by judges and legislators with consistency. Stop playing politics and use lawfulness with passion!
4
What was the “legitimate legislative purpose” of denying Merrick Garland, again?
26
So what is the penalty for contempt? Bad boy, bad boy, now go to your room? Confidence in American government is going down the tubes. To the rest of the world we look like chumps. If there are any civics teachers left they must be highly frustrated.
6
We are seeing the beginning of the end of American Democracy. Trump is taking every page he can out of history's dictators and using it. Will he declare a "State of Emergency" if he loses in 2020 with a fabricated story that his base will eat up and refuse to leave office?
4
The slow march to Trump's dictatorship continue with Putin's blessing and support 2020 will be his official crowning by AG Barr one of his lackeys defending his rise to power, his family will hang til they have gotten every buck out there.
3
Gosh what's he hiding? Is it really that bad?
Check out mnunckin "This will only lead to everybody disclosing their tax forms! The Democrats want total transparency we can't have that!"
1
A better headline would read “Trump Denies House of Representatives His Tax Returns and Prepares for a Contempt Showdown”
These sensationalized, partisan headlines only obfuscate what is actually a power struggle between the branches of government. Call a spade a spade.
2
We are so close turning into a dictatorship.
2
I wonder how many people are sick and tired of the chaos the Trump people create. Trump turned the WH into a madhouse. It is enough, time to start the impeachment. The nation needs a good house cleaning.
9
Can we lock these folks up, already? Not only are they criminals, they are criminally incompetent. Trump is going to go down in history as the worst president. Our very own King George signaling the end of an empire.
4
“I’ll release my tax returns, absolutely, I would love to do that”. - Donald Trump
You lie!
14
@Ken Quinney
You need to yell that during the State of the Union address.
5
"We pledge allegiance to THE CONSTITUTION of the UNITED STATES of AMERICA..."
It's time for a new pledge! Who among you will make this pledge? Flags are just symbols, and we need something more concrete!
1
We are on the path to a dictatorship. These dangerous men must be stopped, or they will never rest until they have established some kind of monarchy on our shores.
6
He is the POTUS already. What does this amongst the 20 + investigations really get us? 20+ investigations is a poor use of time, and along with the Russian collusion hoax, has served little to no purpose for everyday middle class working Americans. Yes, Congress can do more than one thing at a time, but 20+ investigations including this one? Seriously?
1
@Scott K
What does it get us?
I'd like to think our country. We get to keep out representative democratic republic rather having it replaced by a dictatorship of power or oligarchy or kleptocracy.
Seriously.
2
Trump denies voters his tax returns. What's he hiding?
4
This is not just Trump denying Democrats tax returns, or Barr refusing to testify, or any other of a thousand abuses of power perpetrated by this corrupt and immoral president and his corrupt and immoral administration.
After two years of constant lies, constant evasion, constant tearing down of the institutions of democracy, and constant propaganda spewed by so many who seem enthralled by this president, we see the leader of the free world not follow and protect the U.S. Constitution, but (in secret) make a phone call of an hour and a half's duration to the leader of our nation's greatest foe. That's what you do after you've been successful; you call your friend and celebrate.
This is a coup, happening one step at a time in slow motion and in plain sight for all to see...and, seemingly, for none to stop.
4
There is NO legislative reason for him to make his tax returns available. Past presidents have done it out of tradition not by law. It's his prerogative not to do so.
Move. On!
3
Yet again...
The returns will not be released to the public. They are to be provided to an oversight committee behind closed doors.
It's their job and the trump administration is purposely interfering with the functions of congress.
Stop excusing the destruction of separate but equal powers...pretty please.
6
A 2-year-long investigation costing $35 million (according to Trump), and now this DOJ asserts a less redacted version can only be seen by 12 of America's elected legislators, who nonetheless have to sign a nondisclosure agreement. No disclosure to whom? The American people? This is so grossly beyond a cover-up.
5
It seems at this point in time the Congress much begin the impeachment process. This is not to settle scores but to save our democracy from a leader veering towards dictatorship.
3
Since the Treasury Dept. ultimately works for the people, Mnuchin's effort to block the release of Trump's tax returns to Congress, like his feeble tax plan analysis, once again shows his basic lack of fitness for office he holds.
4
I read the entire Mueller Report.
If one has not read it then one has zero business
commenting on it.
It is painfully clear in the report that the occupant of the White House obstructed justice and tampered with witnesses countless times.
He makes Nixon look like a choir boy.
He should resign from office but he won't because then he will be indicted. What a pickle for him and a complete and utter mess for America.
15
If we had real laws then the head of the IRS would be arrested for failing to supply Trump's tax returns to congress.
4
Shameful. This is how dictatorships emerge. Trump and his maladministration must comply with the law and be held to account, otherwise this will be the thin end of the wedge.
2
Again, the Democrats can't accept the election results. The problem was the Electoral College, no wait, it was voter suppression or perhaps the FBI investigation of HRC, Any method to discredit the President, they will try. There is no reason to continue the harassment of Mr. Trump, without any hint of a problem. The Dems are running out of options to go after the President. Sorry, there is no reason to turn over anything to this witch hunt.They loved Mueller when they thought he was going to take down Trump, now that that has failed, he is the devil. This what sore losers look like, very sad.
3
Mr. Barr’s daughter, Mary Daly, recently joined the Treasury Department’s financial crime network department. One would imagine that her work should include investigating people who launder money.
Write / call your members of Congress. Time for them to be a check on this Executive branch.
5
It is time for someone to release the unedited Mueller report ala the Pentagon Papers.
2
Well, as curious as I am, and, I assume others are, do we, the general public have the constitutional ,right to see Trump's tax returns? Ok, so other presidents have done so? So? Other presidents have declared war on Japan and Germany? Yea, it's an idiotic argument. I get it. Do you? Or as my mother (and I assume many other commentators' mothers) have said, "Just because someone jumps off a cliff does not mean you have to release your tax returns". Or something like that.
3
The returns will not be released to the public. They are to be provided to an oversight committee behind closed doors. It's their job and the trump administration is purposely interfering with the functions of congress. Stop excusing the destruction of separate but equal powers...pretty please.
4
@Steve
Steve, I appreciate your insight here. To that point, do you think that if the oversight committee does get Trump's tax returns that there is any possibility it will be leaked t? I am not asking if it is improper or illegal to do so, or even if the public has a right to know- rather I am asking do you think it could happen (based on the historical record that Washington is a porous as Sponge Bob).
1
Corrupt , corrupt and a phony. Mitt Romneys words a few years ago when Trump refused to show tax returns. We need to see how much off shore accounts he has and how much money his Russian and Chinese connections are giving him daily tax free. If he is allowed to not show taxes why have any laws for honesty and transparency. I am very dissatisfied the churches are allowing Trump to continue to be this evil and not speaking up about honesty in government. Very sad.
2
Now we know that Trump is not proud of his business practices. What is he hiding? It must be very bad.
4
Where is the vaunted Southern District of New York on these tax returns/records ?
5
Trump has contempt for everyone, so why not Congress?
4
Trump and Rudy Giuliani (his script writer) are setting up a 2020 campaign to do nothing but denigrate Democrats no matter if they do illegal acts of defiance to our congress,something speaks of a little of war in THIS country coming ..hope I am wrong.
1
During the campaign Trump was saying that he can't release his tax returns because he was being audited. Now Mnuchin gives some other reason confirming that Trump was lying then.
2
Remember back when we had the rule of law in our country? Man, those were the days!
2
Munchkin took a month to try to figure out what this meant:
Upon written request from the chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives, the chairman of the Committee on Finance of the Senate, or the chairman of the Joint Committee on Taxation, the Secretary [of the Treasury] shall furnish such committee with any return or return information specified in such request, except that any return or return information which can be associated with, or otherwise identify, directly or indirectly, a particular taxpayer shall be furnished to such committee only when sitting in closed executive session unless such taxpayer otherwise consents in writing to such disclosure.
And this clown is in charge of the Treasury. All the best people.
4
This is what you do when you can’t talk about the economy.
2
The economy that started climbing under Obama? That economy?
7
@Steve
No, this one.
The longer Trump resists turning over his tax returns to Congress, the greater the suspicions about his wrong doing rises.
4
Anyone interested in being proactive in can file a lawyer complaint form to the Virginia State Bar at the Virginia interactive org website. Intentionally making a false statement of fact or law is a violation of Rule 4.1 and grounds for disbarment, aka perjury. Barr is exposed to this due to his false stating in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee that SC Mueller did not take the Office of Legal Counsel’s guidelines into consideration to not prosecute Trump. Mueller explicitly stated that he did, in his report. That is serious, possibly perjury, and therefore grounds for disbarment. Whether you are a democrat or republican, you paid for a report, not to be lied to.
4
There is no legal reason the President of the United States has to show Congress his tax returns. Case closed.You want him out vote him out.
1
*Sigh. This isn't complicated.
The returns will not be released to the public. They are to be provided to an oversight committee behind closed doors. It's their job and the trump administration is purposely interfering with the functions of congress. Stop excusing the destruction of separate but equal powers...pretty please.
4
How about he is the president of the United States, and why shouldn’t taxpayers legally be able to see? This is not settled law at all. And moreover, he happens to be at the level of unindicted co-conspirator in multiple federal crimes (of which tax returns can be very useful).
4
@Richard As I said there is no LEGAL reason the President of the United States has to show Congress his tax Returns.
1
President Trump "promised" to release his tax returns.
President Trump has said repeatedly that he "always keeps his promises."
It's time to put the "proof" on the table!!!
2
Am I the only one who sees the irony of Congress holding anyone in contempt?
2
This issue will be a test of McConnell's court packing scheme. The law is clear, will McConnell's far right wing judges deliberately misread it to protect Trump? Time will tell.
Tax returns, yes—
And Deutsche Bank records.
[And the role of Justice Anthony Kennedy's son at Deutsche Bank and any connection with the Trump family and Justice Kennedy's decision to retire.]
6
A more precise and objective way to phrase the title of this article is "Trump denies House his tax returns" or "Trump denies House committee his tax returns".
1
what are the consequences of being held in contempt?
Are we a nation of laws or of men?
If not the law, then let's acknowledge our emperor and burn that troublesome document, the Constitution. We have no need of it.
Democrats are acting like Loan Officers requesting financial information.
Fact is, there's no legislation enacted that requires the President to release Federal returns. It's not a requirement and it's optional too, so let it go. Because Mr. President decides not to release should not portray negative judgement from anyone; and has nothing to do with transparency. Wasting time and money! Accomplish some real duties!
2
@AIG
He promised he would show them.
What is he hiding?
@AIG - there's no legislation enacted that requires the President to release Federal returns
Maybe true but upon request by Congress the Secretary [of the Treasury] shall furnish such committee with any return or return information specified in such request:
Upon written request from the chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives, the chairman of the Committee on Finance of the Senate, or the chairman of the Joint Committee on Taxation, the Secretary [of the Treasury] shall furnish such committee with any return or return information specified in such request, except that any return or return information which can be associated with, or otherwise identify, directly or indirectly, a particular taxpayer shall be furnished to such committee only when sitting in closed executive session unless such taxpayer otherwise consents in writing to such disclosure.
Shall furnish. Shall furnish.
And most certainly. If every other President for over 50 years has furnished their returns than yes, people will judge the current president for why he will not. He hasn't even said it is a matter of principal. He even said he'd love to, but restricted by audit. A demonstrable lie. One lie and you get the benefit of the doubt. But lie upon lies will get you judged. Like it or not.
Since the President promised to provide his tax returns during his campaign, where are they? If they contain nothing that would implicate him in anything illegal why is he fighting showing them? An innocent man should simply turn them over and get on with his job.
If he and his administration have nothing to hide, quit fighting the Mueller report, income taxes and whatever else he doesn't want made public.
So what is he hiding? He claims he has nothing to hide, prove it.
2
I think President Trump should continue to fight all information request from the house. They said, when they won a majority, that there was going to be investigation after investigation. They need to get over the facts that Trump beat Hilary, there was no Russian Collusion and Trump, knowing the whole Russia Gate was a farce, could not have obstructed an illegitimate investigation. It would be nice if the dems would actually legislate, as they were elected to do. I also hope AG Barr investigates and jails those responsible for this 20 something million dollar farce. That is the real reason the dems are so up in arms, they are afraid, very afraid of what he will find out.
1
I’m tired of feeling like this corrupt administration is getting away with everything.
It seems Dems are afraid to even bring their butter knives to gun fights.
I’m not screaming impeachment. I’m pleading for Dems to show some backbone.
Raise the stakes - when it’s righteous to do so. If not now, then when? Waiting will allow the R’s to consolidate gains and they’ll end up looking weaker later than they already do now.
9
It’s beyond my comprehension how Democrats are tolerating this public bullying by the President of U.S. It is indeed a sign of a dictatorship when the President assumes he is above the law and adapts the law to his own liking.
How would we expect citizens to comply with rules and regulations if the leader doesn’t?!
Let’s not forget Trump is a mastermind when comes to conning. IF ONLY he would channel those skills towards something legal and productive we might have had different opinion on him ..
7
There is no law saying he has to make his tax returns public!
No.
Law.
What don't the democrats and all the posters here get about that?....
1
@There - "There is no law saying he has to make his tax returns public!"
But there is a law saying Congress can have them:
Upon written request from the chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives, the chairman of the Committee on Finance of the Senate, or the chairman of the Joint Committee on Taxation, the Secretary [of the Treasury] shall furnish such committee with any return or return information specified in such request, except that any return or return information which can be associated with, or otherwise identify, directly or indirectly, a particular taxpayer shall be furnished to such committee only when sitting in closed executive session unless such taxpayer otherwise consents in writing to such disclosure.
That is the point.
Fandos&Rappeport are not clear about the actual meaning of Trump's tax returns. Mnuchin argues there is no 'legislative purpose' for them but the Congress is absolutely obliged to uphold the Constitution and the emolument clause.
There is reason to examine real financial transaction history and present indebtedness to rule out the pattern of undue influence by a foreign (hostile) power over an American president. This can be done without public disclosures that might simply embarrass Trump for exaggerating his wealth & business success. The only privacy right he and all of us should expect is in the absence of holding high office during which time explicit pandering and policy whiplash has shown a pandering to Putin that is linked to election meddling. This is too glaringly extreme a context - with real threats to US security- for Congressional oversight to be obstructed.
3
Bring suit against Mnuchin rather than issue a subpoena, which may need to be predicated on grounds that are oen to interpretation or challenge. A suit against the head of treasury for failing to comply with a congressional directive dating from 1924 is a surer way to sideline Mnuchin and obtain the evidence.
5
There is not the slightest chance in the world that a court will uphold a subpoena for materials protected by the grand jury secrecy law. So, Mr. Nadler is making a lot of noise for nothing,
1
The House should not only hold Mnuchin in comtempt, but also request his tax returns. Clearly, someone should be keeping an eye on what he is doing as Treasury Secretary vis a vis the IRS, given that he has taken it upon himself to make a decision that by statute belongs to the head of the IRS. The House should also seek to determine what if any tax returns have been requested or turned over to the Trump administration.
5
It's a policy, not a law. Hold the POtuS in contempt and get the information needed to prosecute him.
12
The third branch needs to weigh in, the sooner the better.
When Nancy Pelosi suggested that Trump may not accept the outcome of the next election and indicated that may be something to consider as Dems decide between moderates and progressives, things have gone completely off the rails.
Obstruction by the Executive Branch on all fronts and Mueller's communications with Barr about his handling of Mueller's report add up to a Constitutional crisis that must be tackled and resolved.
I read today that several Republicans are trying to reason with Trump about tariffs. Our democracy needs them to stand up to Trump about the rule of law and the importance of checks and balances.
11
The fact is there was never, from the start, nothing fundamentally mysterious or hidden about Trump. Those who voted for him knew that he was not a saint (euphemism). His cheating, tax or otherwise was there for everybody to see or to surmise and he was elected anyway. It seems therefore logical to protect him from especially destabilizing information, if only in order to protect the office.
5
“Not a saint.”
Gorgeous euphemism.
Protect what office???? The office of the Presidency???? The office that he has shamed since entering????
You're concerned that revelations concerning his taxes might "destabilize" our government? Surely you jest. His very presence in the Oval Office has destabilized our democracy from the moment he entered it. Information from his tax returns may, as a private citizen, just confirm what a lousy cheat he has been his entire life. As a President, however, it may confirm weaknesses and indebtedness to those who are determined to destroy us. We have every right to know the many ways in which this man has chosen to compromise our democracy.
We impeach when officials in high office break the law... that’s the modus operandi, because the US Constitution says it is so.
8
And the states AND the DoJ may indict.
There is nothing in the Constitution requiring the political tool of impeachment be used to force lawbreakers out, but every reason to believe a sitting President may not self-pardon - for that way lies absolute tyranny:
POTUS: I dissolve the Constitution , courts and Congress and declare a national state of emergency, except for my right to pardon myself.
POTUS: and I pardon myself.
Mnuchin says that Congress' request for Trump's taxes is "unprecedented". Since every president since Nixon has provided U.S. voters their tax returns, Mnuchin wins the DUH! award for 2019.
5
I just don't get it. What is there to hide, besides behind his own macho self-image?
Has ANY legally innocent person of TV and public stature ever denied and derailed normal judicial procedures as much as Trump has?
OJ and Bill Cosby come to mind as famous TV stars who have tried in the past.
Which then leads me to the conclusion that he is hiding something ...
7
Of all the things the failing New York president may be trying to hide, the one that would PERSONALLY wound him the most is that the public finds out that he is not a billionaire, just a plain old millionaire.
3
@Quincy Mass no doubt that would entitle him to the sympathy vote.
The crazy thing here is we have a system that allows the american people to pick the president themselves in some ways directly, by each persons vote counting towards this crazy electoral college thing. We discussed this in poly sci class today.This makes no sense. Many people are not educated or knowledgeable enough on the information that is needed to make the right decision. As our professor said "are you going to let everyone fly a plane just because everyone needs to travel"? Presidents should be picked by certain elites from both sides. Some key politicians, some key news people like Rachel Maddow and Chris Cuomo and then some business leaders think Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates. We can't have some guy in a bar in Arkansas having an equal vote to someone like Anderson Cooper, its crazy. My generation is going to put a stop to this old fashion madness.
3
@DJ-
Mark Zuckerberg? Are you serious? Read anything about Facebook oh, I’d say, in the past two years?
If your generation is going to do something about the Electoral College, elites aren’t the answer. They tend to come from both sides of the aisle. One person, one vote. We wouldn’t be responding to an article like this right now if each vote counted on its own. Besides, that elites only idea was floated back at the beginning.
2
Mr. Trump sounds pretty desperate. Apparently his "Total Exoneration!" reaction has been completely replaced by his "Total Hit Job!" conclusion. That happened overnight when somebody told him what the Mueller report actually said. Then when Mr. Barr's blatant attempt at a coverup got shredded, there is no place left to hide. The Russians meddled bigtime in the election, and Mr. Trump committed obstruction. Yes, desperate seems appropriate.
7
As an attorney I am stunned, but not surprised, at the rank hypocrisy and ignorance as regards criticisms of the legally appointed, senate confirmed Attorney General of the United Stares. Nadler wants to hold Barr in contempt - for upholding the Law against revealing grand jury testimony. Nadler himself argued against the revealing of grand jury testimony during the Clinton hearings - and participated in the propagation and passage of the very law that he now seeks the Attorney General to violate !! And of course most of the news media just reports Nadlers slanderous comments about Barr, and his melodramatic comments about the supposed impending destruction of the constitutional system of checks and balances, without fully reporting how Barr is following the Law by not disclosing redacted grand jury testimony - redactions that were done with the cooperation of Mueller and his team. And Nadler wants Barr to be the first cabinet officer in the 200 plus history of the Judiciary committee to be questioned by staff in open session? How is that oversight by duly elected members of Congress? How insulting to ththe nations top legal official.
Nadlers aim is clear - to make unreasonable requests of the AG, requests that he and any other AG would contest, so as to make him a straw man to put up as a diversion to detract from the disapppointing findings in the Mueller report. And unfortunately the media is giving him free reign to do so.
5
First, Trump defied norms and mores.
Now, he's defying laws.
4
It's clear that Trump has nothing but contempt for the rule of law ... or the American people.
5
The Trump/Barr team has decided to further their efforts at obstruction while the Republican Senators watch from the sidelines. If this can go on with little to no recourse, we will have no functional government. That means that the Trump/Barr team is moving closer to a total dictatorship. If, as president, you can get away with any action regardless of laws, then Trump's behavior comes ever closer to the behavior of Putin, his idol. What we do now is critical. The outcome of the 2020 election is in the process of being rigged with Russian help and our House seems almost impotent. McConnell sits back salivating at a chance to stack more courts. There is no honor left among Trump appointees and no one is walking out. Even the Justice department should have far more walkouts. You know it's really bad when you can't shame our leaders. They just don't care.
4
President Trump was elected in 2016 when the Democrats were pounding the drum about his tax returns. Sorry Democrats just as it was in 2016 no one gives a whit about President Trump's tax returns except for Democrats who do not plan to vote for him. Beat the drum all you want--no one cares.
3
See, that's the thing. A lot of people care, because you can actually find important information about how beholden an "international businessman" is to a foreign country (maybe even an adversarial one) by taking a peek. You can also see if a taxpayer has been avoiding paying taxes, which is basically the same as ripping off Uncle Sam. Are you saying you'd be okay if an American president was beholden to, say, Russia? How about if he or she had cheated the US Government out of millions and millions of tax dollars?
1
Well the jury is in…….after all the lies and the mountain of evidence, the life of the country is now at stake.
It is very clear that bipartisan legislative efforts cannot solve the problems our Country is facing. I guess the next 24 months will be all about “vote getting” and I guess that if “vote getting” is all that matters we'll see a continued slide into the abyss and anarchy so common in 3rd World Countries.
With Trump, the rate of decay will only accelerate. We are in trouble folks, both Parties must realize we have no choice at this point but to promptly get to the bottom of what looks like a very deep political swamp. At this point, we have to save this country. It will only take a few more events such as those that have transpired the past few days that could decide our trajectory.
As a life long Republican, I have concluded that Trump, or any of his Republican cabal (honestly, that's a non-partisan criticism), will destroy the USA. If we don't make changes now, God, or whomever you pray to, please help us all.
9
Just a few days ago, Trump bragged that his administration was "the most open and transparent in history".
Gee, I wonder what a secretive and uncooperative administration would look like?
2
Steve Mnuchin deserves to be in prison for his behavior after the financial crash.
He is overconfident as a swamp creature, and is long overdue for a big dose of karma.
19
@Grove how about using government property (airplanes) for personal use?
1
Dems, it's full-court press time. The Republicans don't let up when it comes to getting something they really want (think Garland), nor should you.
Subpoenas all around till you get what you want and what we all deserve: the truth.
15
I think its kind of cute how everyone still thinks America is a democracy. It is a failed state, good luck with that.
12
God forbid our lawmakers should deal with policy issues when they can try to attack the President on issues unrelated to the well being our our country. Hard to tell whether Trump or the democrats in congress care less about our nation and more about "winning."
3
@Daniel Yakoubian
I think the American public deserve to know if our president is corrupt, has serious conflicts of interest, has received money from foreign adversaries, or has cheated on his taxes. The fact that Trump fights so hard to not reveal his tax returns, suggests that he has something serious to hide. That and the scathing report by Mueller documenting an unprecedented degree of criminality and corruption and lying in the Trump administration.
1
I am not inured to the antics and of this presidency. I’m disgusted by the lack of accountability. What will it take for the republicans and the democrats to say no more to this lawless group. What are they thinking. Is it time to dispense with the rules that sustained us and made us a once example of democracy. Or is it time to allow a reality tv star to stay in power to avoid the rules to avoid prosecution. Or for the GOP to win power at any cost.
5
“If conservatives become convinced that they can not win democratically, they will not abandon conservatism. They will reject democracy.”
David Frum, Trumpocracy: The Corruption of the American Republic
Further reason why Trump/McConnell are moving as fast as possible to pack the courts. Trump, and the GOP senate, must be defeated in 2020. If not, and RBG/Breyer leave due to health issues or retirement, you will have a hard right SCOTUS, possibly for decades. Lower courts are being packed too. Then, “stonewalling” will become SOP, and obnoxious sycophants will further surround Trump. Recent outrageous examples of the GOP trying to rig state elections support Frum’s quote. We must struggle to return to “regular order” and “regular democracy.”
12
Isn't it a criminal violation for any federal official to interfere with the4 committee chair's right to get the Trump returns? Skip the long, drawn-out nicey-nicey litigation and indict Mnuchin instead.
5
We've reached the point of no return.
Anyway, Lying Trump may not even re-nominated by the GOP. Speaker Pelosi and the ranking lawmakers certainly know what to do.
The Lying Trump cancer should and could be cured. The silent majority would more than eager to lock Trump, his children and evil dogs up.
4
The only upside to the last two years is that we are all going to understand our American democracy in granular detail. Mr. Mueller has passed the baton over to the highly qualified leadership of congress and the American people
A new generation will never take our democracy again for granted. With all the real legal experts who were part of the Watergate experience we are daily consuming a wealth of legal information .
Everyone who cares about democracy are ready for Democratic political action ,the letter today written by the prosecutors addressing the obstruction of justice by Trump once again shows how determined we all are not to let a despot destroy America.
7
I've led a sheltered life, but it seems even to me that if there is nothing embarrassing in Trump's tax returns, why wouldn't he be happy to release them?
13
Welcome to act 3 of the updated version of American Tragedy.
In this act, following the long melodrama in Act 2 centering upon the Mueller report, the infantile tyrant decides to ignore the legislative branch when it suits his fancy, and starts upon a slippery slope of increased hostile gestures towards Iran with the expectation that a little foreign military adventure will do wonders for distracting the easily distractible society from the China tariff farce/melodrama begun in Act 1, and keep his enablers focused upon maintaining the legislative standoff of choreographed partisan snarling, rather than, say, the little matter of defending their constitutional authority, which they
really have little interest in if it threatens dear leader.
As for the domestic morass, the presumption is that the hitherto pretty good economic data will keep sufficiently many satisfied with their own state since that is all most really care about. Can there be really be serious objection to that assumption?
Is it conceivable that there will be a serious political price to pay for making a hopeless mess of ACA for the struggling middle class? Well, certainly not because of anything the hopelessly distracted democrats do.
They're so utterly confused by the chaos all about they've yet to figure out how to get people to pay attention to what
they might hope to do if returned to power. But that requires
people to actually vote their interests, which is hard for
some to do.
5
Contempt showdown?
I'm sure that has Trump, Barr et. al. shaking in their boots. If Trump has one true talent, it's detecting the weakness in others.
A successful con man appeals to his victim's major 3 weaknesses.
Their vanity
Their laziness
Their greed.
When he senses strength, or unshakable moral character in an employee, he fires them. That's why he wanted to interview applicants for the Justice Dept personally.
Trump took the measure of the Republican politicians surrounding him early on and determined that they were men without strength or character. He looks at the Democratic house and has determined they are simply too timid to be concerned about. Now that Trump has discovered that the U.S. Congress was fairly easy to subdue he will really push the envelope.
I make a prediction. The Supreme Court will rule against Trump regarding the matter of his tax returns, and he will ignore the ruling. The Secretary of the Treasury will ignore the ruling. And, the Commissioner of the I.R.S. will ignore the ruling. Bill Barr and the republican senate will explain away Trump's breach of the law.
Trump knows from experience that the American public will jump up and down and throw a tantrum, but will easily be distracted by his next diversion. Then we will simply move on.
After all, we have to work in the morning.
2
Nothing about the actions of the House have been "timid." Clearly, you didn't watch them questioning Barr the other day.
President Trump did not deny his tax returns to Democrats. He denied them to Congress. Congress has a constitutional right to the returns. The Democrats do not. Stop misleading the public.
3
I fear politically all this effort will do is galvanize the Trump base. There is nothing they love more than watching him push back against the "libs". There certainly aren't any remaining voters who don't have their minds made up about him. And for all this effort, I just don't see a situation where this results in Republican lawmakers turning against him.
Ask EVERY Republican senator where they stand on the President releasing his tax return to the House: yes or no.
That will put them on record as to where their true loyalties lie: Trump or the United States.
5
We should not be willing to tolerate an executive branch of government that is above the law, period. The Democratic Party needs to stand up and do the right thing for the country. Impeach Barr and charge him with lying before Congress. Mueller must testify and answer the question; If Trump was not president would he be charged with obstruction of justice. Anyone standing in the way of a lawful subpoena must be arrested and jailed until they are willing to comply. If the Democrats are not willing to stand up and do their job the Republicans will be the most powerful party in the House of Representatives, even if they are the minority party. Time for the Democrats to take the gloves off.
1
We all need to prepare for the inevitable. Trump will not leave the WH willingly. Ever. Whether he is impeached, whether he runs again and loses, or if he rigs the next election. Even if he manages to serve out a second term, he won’t leave willingly. What will McConnell do when it comes to that? What about John Roberts? The GOP needs to decide how far they want to follow Trump into lawlessness and madness. We all have to be ready for violence.
4
Tax returns that are under audit are by definition not accepted as final and are subject to modification by both sides, negotiation, and practical compromise. Their content is therefore not reliable for any purpose, and exposing them to the public would contaminate the settlement process and be a misrepresentation of the President's ultimate taxes.
@Erasmus
Only he is not under an audit.
Enough with this being reasonable rubbish. Ei g reasonable is for people who act reasonably and desire to be reasonable. Congress needs to start throwing these treasonous criminals in jail
11
@TrumpTheStain Actually Congress can't do that. They don't have their own jail. I understand your impatience but we do have to follow our Constitution.
The Republican party is now a treasonous outfit. Republican Senators will not vote to remove Trump. So he can't be removed through impeachment.
A failed attempt might be useful in exposing his evil ways yet more fully. Or it might be understood by "swing" voters as a validation of Trump.
It's clear that anyone who's still on the fence is an extremely low information voter. I'll leave the decision about the usefulness of impeachment to political experts like Speaker Pelosi. I'll concentrate on next year's election.
Find Barr in contempt. Then move to have his legal license revoked in any state in which he is licensed for committing a crime. His malpractice insurance wont cover him. Disbar Barr.
26
Any candidate for the presidency should, by law, present their last 5 years of income taxes. WHY?
Because WE THE PEOPLE, need to know who will be represent us around the world.
Right now a corrupted and sleazy man is representing us. Disgusting!
Change it to a LAW!
24
Trump supporters are like teenage girls. The more “bad boy” image he projects, the more they support him.
The sad thing is that this circus show is ruining this country.
13
I guess he doesn’t want his hard working lower income constitutes to see he maybe makes that much money and pays no taxes due to depreciation. Not a big secret to anyone with half a brain.
12
Under the tax code, the head of House Ways and Means Committee can get any taxpayer’s returns and otherwise-private files from the Internal Revenue Service. Mr. Neal made his request last month, seeking six years of Mr. Trump’s personal and business returns as well as audit records that could prove even more revealing.
The law doesn’t give the administration any discretion, requiring that the Treasury secretary “shall furnish” any returns that Mr. Neal requests. It would take a separate committee vote to release anything publicly.
Federal court cases, however, have established that congressional oversight powers have constitutional limits. Precedents prevent Congress from exposing personal information just for the sake of exposure and require lawmakers to have a legitimate legislative purpose when seeking information.
In his request, Mr. Neal said the committee was studying how well the IRS audits presidents under a 1977 policy that established mandatory audits.
Mr. Mnuchin has said that the request as written applied only to Mr. Trump, not previous presidents, and that Mr. Neal could have asked the IRS for information without getting the tax returns themselves. He cited various statements from lawmakers about their intentions to examine the returns, which extend far beyond the narrow question of IRS performance.
In his letter Monday, Mr. Mnuchin offered to provide information about the IRS audits of presidents.
4
"Mr. Neal settled on a rationale" -- just as Wilbur Ross settled on a rationale for the citizenship census question. If we insist that government use real rationales, not invented ones, Mr. Neal's action is a step in the wrong direction.
2
Let me see if I have this correct. Steve Mnuchin has declared that the returns will not be turned over because the demand by Congress lacks a legitimate legislative purpose. Since when does a member of the executive branch determine what is and is not a legitimate legislative purpose? If that rationale remains unchallenged, how long will it be before one of Trump's order-takers declares that the Supreme Court has no legitimate judicial purpose in reviewing a case brought before it by Congress?
If, as Bernie Sanders said. Trump is no dictator, then I believe Trump didn't get the message.
23
@Tom Q
Or worse, that elections are over and Trump is now president for life.
" . . . the committee’s request is unprecedented."
Well yes. I wonder why that is.
9
Demanding Trump's or any politicians tax returns, particularly those when he was just a citizen and for obvious political purposes is a very dangerous precedent indeed.
@Hk
What is dangerous, is not having the tax returns of the current President. With his hundreds of corporate entities, there needs to be transparency to show that Trump is not using the presidency to enrich himself and his businesses. The public and Congress need Trump’s tax returns, to ensure he has no conflicts of interest while he is President.
Would you be so disinterested in the finances of a mega rich, Democrat president?
7
@Barry of Nambucca My point is that no one should have to turn over their tax returns period. I did not vote for Trump, and while I have never voted for a Democrat I think that even a Democrat, running for President or not, should be compelled to turn over their returns.
Congress should not be able to compel citizens to hand over personal financial information, that would be a bad precedent and an incredibly dangerous tool.
It’s becoming more clear that the democrats have no real plans while in the house, just impeach as many they can and defend hamas.
Let's say this all goes to the Supreme Court and Trump loses yet still refuses and the Republican Senate goes along with him. Let's say Trump then loses the 2020 election but refuses to leave the Presidency. Let's say the Republicans still continue to go along with him, saying the election was rigged. How does this all end?
18
@John, stay alive to find out how it ends. Eat in moderation, exercise appropriately for your age and physical condition, keep your vaccinations up to date, stop smoking and drink in moderation, get regular medical check ups, and pray that you live to see how this all ends. Good luck.
1
@John Anyone who went along with him at that point would be risking serious punishment, even perhaps capital punishment. I don't see Mitch sticking his neck out that far.
No legitimate legislative purpose? For starters, how about oversight re the emoluments clause?
35
Tell me - what exactly is obstruction? Can anyone possibly think that Trump and his servants are trying to preserve our democracy and our laws?
3
My first thought was that we should arrest those who refuse oversight for contempt. Then I realized that Trump would be willing to let everyone get arrested, as long as he did not. We are indeed in deep, deep trouble. As long as we have a president who can order people to break the law and those people obey him, then I do not recognize this country anymore.
19
It would be interesting to see what the Republicans will say if the next Democratic President were to attempt something similar.
11
Has anyone considered the possibility that 2016 will be the LAST presidential election in American history? Trump's maniacal ego will not permit him to surrender the office and he has already defied Congress numerous times--thanks to that institution's unwillingness to assert its Constitutional authority. Perhaps Pelosi & Company(and the GOP) are fearful of an armed up-rising at Trump's behest. In all events, though, Trump's driving the train toward a huge wreck--while we sit back and enjoy the ride.
5
@Michael
If Trump is defeated, he will leave.
Even if in handcuffs. Neither the Republicans nor the army will support him.
1
Can New York and other states provide state returns?
6
This atheist is praying that someone will find the strength to out the Trump tax records and the Mueller report.
A couple million of us would chip in for their defense, and to defray pension losses.
Copies of these records have to have been seized in the numerous raids.
Please people.
13
@Lawrence
Not going to happen from an I.R.S. employee.
First of all, even a search conducted under his name would probably be flagged and referred to the Inspector General. Additionally, his records are most likely "locked" by the Commissioner.
If his account was actually located, accessed, and leaked to the media (a Cardinal Sin within the I.R.S.) there would be criminal penalties involved. Would you want to take that type of a risk with this current Attorney General?
Did you not notice how scared Rod Rosenstein was of losing his job?
Democrats. Please drop the delusions that these people have any intent of doing what they are supposed to. It is ALL stonewalling. They will play for time in any way they can.
7
The longer Trump remains in office, the weaker our constitution becomes. Madison, Hamilton, Jay were pretty smart for the 1790s, but maybe they were ill-equipped to imagine the depravity of a 21st century Trump and the cowardice of today’s GOP.
17
Where is Wikileaks when we need it?
8
Wikileaks works for Russia.
We don't like the result of the 2016 election, so we impeach Trump.
We don't like the result of the Mueller probe, we impeach Barr.
That's the modus operandi.
4
We don't like 2016 so we win big in 2018.
We don't like the result of the Mueller investigation that confirmed Trump communicated with Russia and obstructed justice so we have a duty to look further into his criminal activity.
5
@Gerald
Trump lost the election by 3,000,000 ballots.
We like the Mueller report. Trump is the one who is afraid of it.
3
@Gerald, it's a bit more complicated than your comment would have one believe.
1
The reality is that, as Mitch McConnell correctly identified, if Republicans have the White House, the Senate and the Supreme Court, there isn’t much that can be done. Our system is entirely dependent on the character of those in office. If the judges care little about the law, and the politicians care only about money, it’s pretty tough.
18
Why does your headline emphasize the word "Democrats", as opposed to a more befitting "Congress" or "House". By using "Democrats" you turn this into a political partisan headline rather than an institutional clash headline.
43
Because it’s partisan. This power to compel financial info from any citizen or official would literally be used as a political weapon. It would be now and in the future.
1
@Moe, the American Civil War was partisan, too. According to Trump, it could have been prevented if Andrew Jackson had only compromised a bit. So Sad.
1
Whadda ya talkin’ about? Form 1040 compels info from ALL taxpayers.
A thoroughly corrupt and lawless administration.
This simply cannot be allowed to continue.
There is not even a pretense of ethics in any way.
They are daring anyone to do anything about it.
We must be as ruthless in enforcement of the laws as they are of breaking them.
32
The congressional demand for Trump's tax returns "lacks a legitimate legislative purpose” says Trump's Secretary of the Treasury.
Congressional Republican might take notice of this bizarre assertion of power. Congress doesn't get to decide any longer what legislation to consider; the executive department, Mnuchin claims, makes that decision. What the president doesn't want considered, may not be considered.
It's not hyperbolic to understand the Trump claims on power as the most serious assault on American democracy since the Civil War; and the spirit of those who tore the country apart for the "right" to own other human beings is recognizable in this administration and its congressional apologists.
It's unclear whether "America" cares enough about how it is governed to begin to pay attention; and, it seems, many Americans would welcome a president freed of legal restraints on his power.
22
Trump should do everything possible to brunt the politically motivated attacks by the Democrats. His base (which was big enough to elect him once and big enough to elect him again) sees the Democrats and their actions for what they are...
2
Only because of the electoral college
1
We should keep in mind that campaign slogan of Louis Abolafia when he ran for President, way back when war mongering President Donald Trump was dodging the draft, to wit: "I have nothing to hide." Fast forward to the Donald now ... what does our HE have to hide?
2
I’m trying to keep this straight. Its only May 6, still early in the month, but so far, over the past several days, the Administration ("no collusion, no obstruction") has declared that it will not
1) Release Trumps tax returns thus risking charges of contempt
2) Release of the complete unredacted Muller Report also risking contempt charges
3) Allowing anyone in their employ to cooperate or testify before congress opening all to subpoenas and charges of contempt
What the Administration will do
1) Threaten Iran with a sudden display of American military might
2) Prepare to hit China with more tariffs - sending the stock market into gyrations
3) Sue to end the ACA in its entirety
4) Lie and perjure themselves in service to The Boss
5) Put the DOJ to work “investigating the Investigators”
There’s more, I know, but my head may explode. It’s hard to keep track this much dog wagging.
51
@sashakl, great comment. "Nothing to see here!"
1
The real problem with this is that the very office of the government that the House needs to enforce their request is the DOJ and who does the DOJ work for, not the American people!
Trump talks about a coup by the Democrats to take away his job, when in fact it's Trump that's the one doing the coup.
12
Those tax returns are trump's kryptonite.
All the more reason...
5
I think you need to say denied "Congress" not denied "the Democrats". This is not a partisan battle, but rather a test of separation of powers, and in particular the power of Congress.
35
Mr. Mnuchin said not only would he not turn over the returns but he could not. “The department may not lawfully fulfill the committee’s request,” he said.
Mr. Neal’s next move is not clear. He could file a lawsuit against the Treasury Department, accusing Mr. Mnuchin of not following the law,
Twilight Zone.
6
A whistle blower or someone taking a payoff will provide the Trump tax returns, finally.
It seems assured they will be embarrassing.
9
So this will get bogged down in the courts which will probably be decided one way or the other after the 2020 election. But meanwhile, why shouldn't the House pass a bill requiring all Presidential candidates beginning in 2020 to make their tax returns public. Of course Mitch will never let that see the light of day in the Senate, but let's put the burden on him and his colleagues to explain why this isn't appropriate legislation.
25
Trump’s tax returns are the holy grail of secret Trump world. But the Democrats may find they are really looking to break into Al Capone’s secret vault: their quest will come up empty. The returns will not reveal fraud on their face as Trump ha not been charged with tax fraud by the IRS. The returns will show how the IRS code unfairly favors the wealthy and real estate moguls in particular .
The issue is not the details in the returns. It has become the norm for Presidential candidates to reveal back returns as a good faith sign of transparency, that there is no financial issue which is concealed from public scrutiny. Trump has defied this among many norms regarding his finances such as failure to divest his business interests, business conflicts of interest and nepotism.
Democrats need not look to the details of Trump’s tax returns to prove his unfitness for office; that is established by his failure to conform to the norms which establish that our President’s fidelity is to our country and not his personal wealth and wellbeing.
13
We have a president and an administration that does exactly what it wants obstructing any and all attempts to provide legally required oversight, and the Republican Senate aids the obstruction. These people are ignoring the law and the Constitution everyday with very little consequence. It is easy to find this normal as it has become more "normal" every day. But we all need to step back and look at the bigger picture. We need to the think about the fallout, the precedents that are being established. This is how dictatorships remove democracy. These are extremely frightening times and way too many of us are shrugging this off as "just the way politics are these days." Everyone needs to wake up and pay attention. We are in very perilous times and things are happening that may turn out to be very difficult to undo.
23
The House can not capitulate, they must carry to the very end. They must issue subpoenas and have those not complying arrested for contempt of congress. trump will only respond to strength. If this means beginning the articles then so be it.
9
It's time for Americans to ask if this is the type of government we want. I am not sure anymore what is Constitutional and what is not. In fact, I'm increasingly recognizing that the Constitution is hopelessly ambiguous and not very well constructed. We are rapidly devolving into autocracy and our Constitution provides no adequate means to reverse that devolution. There is no reason we have to resign ourselves to this. What the Framers wrote in 1787 was not perfection even then—and the world has changed dramatically in the past 230 years. Our Founders had the courage to imagine something different and better than what they were born too. Do we have that same courage today? Remember what Jefferson said. Are we brave and visionary enough to say the same today?
"Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security."
23
In Australia a concept has arisen with respect to the assessment of political decisions and explanations: the pub test. "Pub" is a contraction of "Public Bar", a plain old Bar where drinks are sold and consumed. Something passes the "Pub test" if the regular Joe agrees it is reasonable.
The protestations of Mr Trump and the indifference of Mr Barr with respect to charges of obstruction and collusion, in the context of Mr Mueller's March 27 letter and Mr Trump's statements all over the public record, do not pass the pub test. Any reasonable external observer would conclude that Trump did it all, and Barr is firmly entrenched in his corner.
21
@A. F. G. Maclagan
and that is why sane people let courts decide whether laws are reasonable, and have been violated. Other countries, like yours, may choose to delegate that function to drunks, or kangaroos, or dingos, but that's not how we do it here.
1
This is all kabuki theater my friends.
4
We expect illogical positions to be taken by Donald Trump, since he is a man who – even on those rare occasions when his intention is to act cooperatively – has a serious problem with linear thinking.
William Barr has the ability to understand fully the meaning of legal terms, political terms and terms for which Merriam-Webster is the source. When Barr does not follow instructions, he does so willfully.
A subpoena is merely an instruction to someone to appear somewhere or to produce some object or document. There are penalties available to the court or body issuing a subpoena for failure of the recipient to comply in a timely manner.
One of those penalties is a finding of contempt.
If there is only one thing or document sought by a subpoena – say, the unredacted report of Robert Mueller -- a recipient who does not produce that one item is in contempt. It is merely for the issuer to make a finding.
Put another way, compliance with a subpoena for a single item is like pregnancy. You’re either pregnant or you’re not.
The last thing which Jerrold Nadler, Chair of the House Judiciary Committee, should do is negotiate with some snarky staffers for William Barr prior to the due date.
Once the full committee, Republicans and Democrats, is assembled and the vote occurs to cite for contempt. Mr. Barr can be arrested, and negotiations may commence.
The process lends a new meaning to the old term, "house arrest."
57
Well said-this is going to be a long, protracted “Fasten your seatbelt” ride-but those who cherish our democracy are ready for the fight-and it needs to happen. We will be living in an autocracy if the Administration and Republican Party is not challenged or held accountable for gross crimes against our constitution-this is how things fall apart, or democracy is restored-we must support those who advocate for rule of law in government, and a balance of power.
12
@sdw
Just plain wrong. A recipient of a subpoena who does not comply may be held in contempt ONLY if the applicable court determines that the subpoena was valid, and there was no excuse for noncompliance.
Here, Barr will argue that the subpoena is invalid because it seeks to compel the production of the report, while the IC statute very clearly gives Barr sole discretion to decide whether to release the report to anyone. In effect, the subpoena seeks to subvert a valid law passed by Congress and signed by the President. If the Dems are dumb enough to push this, they will lose in court.
1
@GMooG, Barr could be charged with lying to Congress and charged with contempt of Congress.
2
Why aren't the contempt charges filed immediately on Barr and Mnuchin and any other executive branch crony the moment they pass the deadline to yield to the legal authority of Congress?
30
"the only requirement for evil to triumph is for the Republicans to do nothing"
38
Thank God! To maintain any integrity, the Committee must recommend and the House must act.
8
The dems will be shut down at the Supreme Court. This is going nowhere. Gornischt.
8
How about we impeach Trump instead of swatting his henchmen?
14
How many of these Democrats screaming for Barr's head have actually taken the time to read the unredacted report, except for the 6E grand jury exceptions?
Zero.
This is nothing more than political side-show for the liberal base. I attended a townhall with our newly elected Republican congressman this morning. He thought he knew how broken Washington was before he got there. Now he can declare with all certainty that the system is really, really broken.
In plain English, the liberals are pushing us towards a civil war. They won the House and refuse to govern. Their hate for Trump and his voters have poisoned the well beyond all repair. How sad for our children's future.
18
@Jon Galt
With all due respect, seriously, civil war? As Ms. Pelosi so eloquently put it, Trump is not worth it.
Ask Michael Cohen about how the country is in good hands with respect to our children’s futures.
This process is not some unfounded witch hunt, the president is grandstanding to avoid having the blame put squarely where it belongs, namely on him.
86
@Jon Galt AG Barr has not released the full unredacted report to any member of Congress. He is acting as a fixer for Trump, not the Attorney General of the United States which violates his oath of office. That Nadler is about to throw the book at Barr is altogether fitting and none too soon. There is no civil war; the Democrats are trying to preserve and protect the Constitution of the United States which Trump has neither read nor respected. More power to them.
116
@Jon Galt,
You are correct--none of the Democrats in Congress have read the unredacted Mueller report. That is why they issued a subpoena to Attorney General Barr--to get the unredacted report, so they can read it and perform the duties of Congressional oversight. I am not sure why the White House and Attorney General Barr are reluctant to let Congress review the report, since apparently it was a complete exoneration of the President, or so I've heard.
141
Let's do it.. and then work to put him jail.. unless Mr Barr works to put Trump in jail.
11
Vote today! Move more quickly. There will be no cooperation.
14
Wednesday?? It's true, repubs are knocking over pickle jars and screaming laying down in aisles, and the dems are the parents going, "i am counting to 40, you better behave.."
augh..disbar this guy, immediately, then fire him for lack of qualifications for his job.AND cite him for contempt, and throw him in jail..
51
An eleventh hour offer from the DOJ is entirely disingenuous and should be ignored and summarily dismissed as such. It is nothing more than a stall tactic. Contempt proceedings should have been initiated a week ago.
Our Constitution is at serious risk.
There is no time to waste.
Additionally, Mnuchin should also be held in contempt and arrested for failure to comply with the law, one clearly defined in in 1924 which empowers the Congress to seek and get the tax records of any US citizen.
Finally, as over 370 former federal prosecutors and DOJ officials have elucidated, Trump should have been indicted for obstruction of justice were it not for the constitutionally untested DOJ Memo stating that a sitting president cannot be indicted.
It is time to begin Impeachment hearings for him.
27
Mnuchin and Barr will both be held in contempt of Congress.
15
Charge Barr and Mnuchin with contempt of congress, fine them and lock them up in the congressional jail. Use EVERY tool at your disposal to hammer these crooks with. Don't let up. The American people are with you, dems!
15
Nancy Pelosi is not providing the tough leadership that we need to check this out of control President. She thinks a tough stance, including impeachment, will alienate the moderate voters. I think she's very wrong, as she has been on many occasions.
I don't think weakness is a trait moderates (or anyone for that matter) find attractive, especially not when the public sees what is happening to our democracy and that our congress is failing to protect us against a ruthless take over by ultra conservative White Nationalists.
Step up to the plate, Nancy, before it's too late for all of us.
11
Agree Pelosi is out of touch-this is why the Dems are run over by Republicans-not time for principle but for action-treat others as they have treated you-accountably and with God on our side. It is the last chance-if Trump/GOP can pull this one off, our democracy is no longer. I love this country, but as Einstein and others left the Third Reich, I will leave America.
@Katherine Clarkson, good-bye!
@BlueBird, I hear your sentiments. Nancy Pelosi has decades of experience in government and should be trusted by her constituents. Nancy would like your support, but please know that she has never left the plate, regardless of how it may appear.
The difficult work is getting the Trump supporters to see Trump for what he is and not some figment of their imagination. That will take some time and hearings. Harassment is not oversight. One is illegal, the other is mandated by the US Constitution. Some Trump supporters have not grasped that distinction.
Apparently the checks and balances provided in our Constitution are being subverted by the Executive branch. Using the policy and practice of an autocrat, in repeated defiance of the Legislative branch, created to represent the people, the Executive branch is in violation of its constitutional limits.
Aside from impeachment, which perhaps would not be the best choice, what effective measure can be used to counter, correct and censure this serious offense?
3
I fear Trump will do what he always has done for fifty years: tie it up in court and make it go away. Nadler is moving too slowly. The election is 18 months away and the Dems haven't even begun investigating Trump's crimes.
13
Mnuchin should be next.
23
@Richard G Groff
Most definitely, if not first.
9
@Richard G Groff
Or McConnell.
1
i offer a pointed spelling for the desired legal action when a presiding AG is cited for contempt or has been proven to have lied under oath will soon be upon our fingertips:
disbarrment
13
@Marc
:-) loverly
1
@Marc
disbarment is not a legal action; it is a private action by the relevant state bar association(s) and the government has nothing to do with it.
@GMooG, you are mistaken. The state government is involved in disbarment and in Bill Clinton's case, the Supreme Court.
Can we hold him contemptable too?
4
@teach
not until you can spell it correctly :)
The meaning of "the department was willing to meet Wednesday afternoon — after the scheduled contempt vote" is that the Administration is stalling. Stalling and stalling and stalling ... and then the 2020 election is over and nothing has yet enlightened the people on the corruption of this government. Suing and stalling (they go together) has been Trump's modus operandi for decades; he's had great success with it and has no reason to give in to anything.
What happened to Congress's power to jail people for contempt? It was used freely during the (Joe) McCarthy era.
6
The House has a sergeant-at-arms, and the leadership can press him to arrest officials found in contempt. Indeed, the House can even jail officials until they testify ...
Time to show some mettle to these scofflaws.
23
Since when is it prerogative of a presidential appointee to say whether or not Congress is doing its job appropriately? What a weak excuse.
11
The Mueller report is ours. We paid for it. Barr and Trump have the misguided idea that it is their personal property and they can do whatever they like with it.
Give us our property or risk going to jail.
24
@dutchiris
No, no, no. There is a law on the books that addresses this situation directly. That law, passed by Congress and signed into law by a Democratic President (Clinton) is very clear that the decision of who, if anybody, gets to see the Indep Counsel's report is left to the discretion of the AG.
By playing this subpoena charade, the Dems are trying to distract people (including the NYT writers, who seem unaware of this, the most important fact) from the fact that they do not have a legal leg to stand on. A subpoena that compels a party to do something in contradiction to a valid law or regulation of the US is simply not enforceable.
7
@GMooG
Then the law should be rescinded.
1
@dutchiris
Laws aren't "rescinded." If people don't like the law, they can repeal it, and propose a new one. Which would have to be passed by both houses of Congress and either (a) signed by the President, or (b) passed with enough votes to over-ride his veto. If the Dems don't have the votes for that (and of course they don't), then they are out of luck.
4
Big deal. Holder was held in contempt and NYT barely covered it. This is a complete nothing designed to fool the leftists who are always easily fooled.
8
@Garth
I religiously read NYT front to back. I hate it. But I never knew holder was held in contempt. Must have been in the comics.
6
The DOJ alumni statement says what Mueller so far has not been able to publicly state:
"We believe strongly that, but for the OLC memo, the overwhelming weight of professional judgment would come down in favor of prosecution for the conduct outlined in the Mueller Report."
The statement now has nearly 500 signatures. I would consider that sample statistically significant given the population.
The law disagrees with both Trump and Barr. We are about to hang them both or hang ourselves.
4
@Andy
It is not a statistical sample. It is a bunch of people who decided to sign up. It proves nothing.
2
@Andy
The meaning of laws is determined by the courts, not by a poll of former AUSAs. This is not "Dancing With The Stars."
@Hooey
The signatures submitted with verifiable contact information they currently or formerly worked for the DOJ. Respondents aren't randomly selected. However, the sample is significant. How many current and former DOJ prosecutors do think there are?
The population is small enough even a biased sample is going to give you an idea of the overall legal opinion. They even went out of their way to publicize the non-partisan nature of the opinion.
By the way, who knows more about statistics? You or me?
I'm willing to have that debate at your leisure.
3
Maybe this will add to the pile apparently the WaPo has also done an article. I found it on the Boston Globe and the Protect Democracy site has the link to the statement and teh WaPo article;
https://protectdemocracy.org/update/trump-would-have-been-charged-with-obstruction-were-he-not-president-hundreds-of-former-federal-prosecutors-assert/
2
One thing good about Trump, at least it has forced the Dems finally show some semblance of guts. It has been a long time. Trump actually has an opinion and does things, while Dems winge and check the poles to make sure they get reelected and funded, showing no leadership, no moral courage. It always stuns me how the Democratic Party learned absolutely nothing from 2016. When that party had control of Congress, what did they produce? They couldn't even get it together to offer healthcare to all for two years while they had the votes: though Obamacare is now popular, fewl went to bat for it because they could not face their constituency/insurance companies drones and say, well you are wrong, I don't care about getting reelected, the health of the nation is more important. I hate Trump with all my might, but he is a force for change. Will Dems finally get off their butts and lead or will they dither again and say: "Gee, some people might think its really not nice to impeach, let's do more half-hearted dithering and pretend we have an love for this nation and its freedoms." Thanks to Trump, the Dems. may actually have to do something.
3
IF the House will pursue goals with prudent language, always informing the Trump regime and the public as to how the sought after information is necessary to meet House's constitutional duties of oversight, the Trump regime will slowly get backed into the same corner the Nixon regime ended in.
The GOP controlled Senate cannot for ever turn away from their 'golden goose's ' regime of obfuscation and lies that are eroding our nation and bringing disrespect to the office of the president. At some point, they will recognize the Trump regime is a deep malignancy in our country.
5
Step up democrats. Do your constitutional duty or pack your bags and go home! You all talk a good game. Put up or shut up. The Republic is in danger.
14
The house needs to grow a spine and put these criminals in prison.
11
he should be impeached.
8
I try not to say anything unless there is something relevant to say.
In this case I offer this:
1. In the past 2 or so years trump has publicly stated over 10,000 untrue public statements to the American people.
2. His cabinet officials have turned back numerous commonsense government policies simply because the were enacted by President Obama.
3. This administration has surrounded itself with an army of lawyers seeking to find every slippery way around the law in an effort to reap monetary gain without paying the consequences.
4. The president has continuously avoided speaking out against the hatred seeping out from hate groups across the country.
5. This president wants to rule by tweet and executive order rather than legislation showing his disrespect for political process.
6. This occupant in the white house does not seem to recognize that the rule of law is a civilized goal to strive towards and not simply a place to throw staffers under the bus.
10
@Lalo
You should understand that Obama did not have the power to “enact” anything. He was only the president. The regulations he approved, indirectly, were beyond the power of the executive branch and agencies that promulgated them. That’s all. They were withdrawn and superseded.
1
OK.
Why not throw Munchin as well?
As for the Supreme Court, there are already 4 justices that have expressed support for the Unitary Executive Theory and since that is what Barr is pushing, things should go swimmingly there as well.
Look, I get it.
Trump is directly trying to push Democrats into some kind of impeachment inquiry and he figures he has the deck stacked in his favor.
Perhaps he does, but this does not mean that Democratic Leadership has to comply.
Contempt citations are meaningless.
Nor would I bet on the SC.
At some point, Democratic Leadership will have to choose.
Do they at least try to end this kind of lawlessness and start treating Trump as the primary issue facing us, or they go through the motions, while telling themselves that Trump is just an aberration.
Then again, the leadership is also betting on an election that is already being interfered with.
Weaker by the day!
2
Yet another "good man" with a good reputation at least in conservative circles is being pulled into the Trump vortex - the destroyer of reputations.
1
This is good, but it's just a start. He needs to be charged with perjury for his answers to House questions early in April as to whether he was aware of any concerns the Special Counsel had with his handling and communication of the Mueller Report. We now of course know that he received a letter specifically stating those concerns from Robert Mueller in March. In what alternate universe is this not perjury. You don't need a law degree to recognize a bold-faced lie made on camera in front of the American people for whom he is supposed to be working. As the saying goes....Lock him up!
9
I'm not saying every Republican is like this, but today's GOP as a whole is just so disrespectful of others. The fact is that most Americans are not Republicans, and that in our 2016 and 2018 national elections (and 2008 and 2012, of course) the Democrats comfortably secured a majority of all votes cast, if not the electoral college. The fact is, too, that among institutions, the House is most representative and reflective of this nation's will right now. Of course Americans on the whole want to hear what Mueller has to say and what's in the tax returns. By thumbing its nose at the House, the GOP is really thumbing its nose at America and what most of its various people want to be right now. The reality is that the GOP has not had an actual mandate to lead at the federal level in a very long time. Never in my lifetime has the GOP as an institution showed itself to be so bluntly and openly obnoxious as now. So I don't see how, outside of applying force, the GOP holds power or sway very much longer. With every additional, silly move, the pressure builds in the general populace to hammer this nail that is the GOP down, and hard. Or -- it could stop acting this way, respect the people, and perhaps, in time, secure the kind of support that leaders like Reagan and Schwarzenegger enjoyed. The country they want back is not the country we want. And this is not the GOP's country. It's our country -- the country of all of us.
7
I understand why Democrats are pressing to see the full report. I do not understand why that is a reason to delay action since so many qualified people have already reported that there is enough reason to start impeachment hearings now and that is the surest way to force Barr to cooperate. It is pretty obvious that Trump is going to force that by continuing to obstruct and delay. So why wait? I do hope the Democratic leadership changes course. The "hopey-changey thing" is not working.
2
If the Dems can't organize against Trump and put him under impeachment, maybe they aren't worthy of leading an arm of government. This would suggest, too, that they aren't worth voting for in 2020.
What's the hold-up? A criminal must be brought to justice.
Trump is a screaming bully, and the Dems are allowing him to cower them with what MIGHT happen in 2020 if they go after him and miss. Seize the day, Dems. You can't sit this one out no matter what MIGHT happen down the road.
5
Trump and Barr’s refusal to deliver the unreacted Mueller report and underlying documents to the House Judiciary Committee is a clear and direct attempt to obstruct and usurp the oversight power of Congress.
The grand jury information contained in the Mueller report is related to an "actual attack...or other grave hostile acts of a foreign power or its agent" on the United States and efforts by individuals in the Trump campaign, including Trump, to work with that foreign power or its agents (wittingly or unwittingly) and to obstruct the investigation into those matters.
Rule 6(e) (3)(A)(ii) provides an exception to Rule 6(e) whereby the AG may disclose “any grand jury matter involving foreign intelligence, counterintelligence (as defined in 50 U.S.C. 3003), or foreign intelligence information. . .involving a threat of attack or other grave hostile acts of a foreign power or its agent, a threat of domestic or international sabotage or terrorism, or clandestine intelligence gathering activities by an intelligence service or network of a foreign power or by its agent...for the purpose of preventing or responding to such threat or activities.”
The fact that William Barr refuses to disclose the report and Republicans take no issue a president who sought to gain from such hostile acts and has used the power of the presidency to obstruct the investigation into those hostile acts (in which he himself is implicated) is despicable and, as far as I’m concerned, treasonous.
7
Imagine teaching AP U.S. government this semester!
6
I hope an agreement can be reached as to which members of the House are permitted to see the unredacted report & the underlying materials
Given past experience I don't want to see every member of the House receive unfettered access to everything because there are apparently some 12 ongoing investigations yet to be identified & possibly intelligence sources & methods that could be revealed
With those caveats, I favor a select group of House members who agree to non-disclosure until need is shown to be given access to everything
2
"But Mr. Barr, who refused to testify before the Judiciary Committee last week because of a dispute over format, has earned special ire, serving as a kind of surrogate punching bag for Democrats frustrated with Mr. Trump but leery of impeachment."
Yet another side-show, shiny object to distract voters.
1
amazing! I don't recall the GOP quibbling over bringing in a lawyer to question Christine Ford on behalf of the Republicans supporting Kavanaugh.
4
They have been yelling about a crisis every day since Trump was elected. Do they really think anyone outside the bubble cares about this? Or listens any longer?
2
@AACNY
Read this. https://medium.com/@dojalumni/statement-by-former-federal-prosecutors-8ab7691c2aa1
You can go on fantasizing as long as you like reality is going to be just as merciless with you if you know it or not.
3
the wsj has a more balanced article on this discussing both sides. of course, we can all depend on the nytimes to claim they are not biased, but demonstrate otherwise in 90% of their article. There are occasional exceptions however, perhaps 1 article each month is balanced. most of those that read the nytimes do not realize there is another view of this sort of article - the view taken by barr and the doj. that congressional committee is also not qualified to perform oversight - that comes quickly by viewing them on videos, but I guess they tried to compensate by using staff attorneys - sounds like a good idea
4
I’m sure there’s another perspective on this: from those with no ethics or morals. Barr is clearly an individual who lacks either. Why else would one work for Donald Trump?
5
The WSJ? I think you should read this:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/04/03/magazine/rupert-murdoch-fox-news-trump.html
2
@BlueBird, sharp tongue; sharp mind. Thanks for the comment and link.
Please get a grip. This all part of the plan.
Mr. Barr will never comply with a subpoena; until some court forces him to. In a few years, maybe. Successful obstruction. Hallmark of the Trump Administration
Mr. Mnuchin (beneath contempt) has defied a subpoena. What about the word Shall" doesn't he understand? He will rue the day he went "into the tank" for the Donald.
Put both these fine patriots in prison for a few days and I'm sure they will forgo the pleasure of covering up for Mr. Trump.
13
The Republicans are playing by different rules and the hapless Democrats are easily steamrolled. I hate Trump and his Republican stooges but this fight is a total mismatch.
3
Contempt of Congress; contempt of every American.
12
DOJ policy of not indicting a sitting President should be amended. No one should be above the law and that’s what a Vice-President is for. This lawless Administration is tearing up the Constitution and Republicans are not upholding their oaths of office.
7
Just do it.
4
It should be obvious to all by now that Trump and his minions will do everything possible to prevent Congress from carrying out its Constitutional responsibilities and try to "run out" the clock on justice. The Democrats need to move forward as quickly as possible and face the reality that there will be no reasonable accommodation from this President. Delay is justice denied.
5
The Republicans asked the American people to wait for their health care reform plan, ten years later we are still waiting. Trump asked the American people to wait until his IRS audit was over to produce his tax returns, two and a half years later no tax returns and now a steadfast "NO". Trump promised an infrastructure plan, we got zilch. The Republicans have been working on immigration reform since the GW Bush era, have we seen any proposed legislation. Trump promised tax relief for the middle class, instead he and his Republican congress gave away the store to the wealthy and big corporations. The rest of us are still waiting Donald.
"Monday Stephen E. Boyd, an assistant attorney general, wrote “we were disappointed that the committee took initial steps this morning toward moving forward with the contempt process.”" How long are we going to wait Mr. Boyd until the Republican stall stops, 2020? And since when is asking for a copy of the Mueller report in full without redactions a "perverse demand".
The only thing perverse going on here are the ongoing actions of Republicans to destroy our Constitution and our rule of law, our environment, our voting rights and our health care system.
We the people are tired of waiting, impeach trump, hold Barr in contempt. This nonsense has to stop, Dems need to grow a spine, call the Republican bluff.
7
There is no audit, and there never has been one.
The IRS “misplaced” his taxes a long time ago.
His accounting firm shredded them “by accident.”
Trump claims he throws them away every year to avoid cluttering up his office.
Get wise Democrats.
Impeach him.
8
We seem to no longer be operating under our Constitution here. At some point I expect all those 2nd amendment people to rise up and overthrow this tyrannical government they hem and haw about needing guns to counteract.
5
The GOP owns it, all these Trump criminals and clowns.
6
The Constitution does not give Congress oversight power over the executive branch. Oversight is an “implied” rather than an enumerated power. The problem with implied powers is that founders set no boundaries on implied power because they did realize such a things as implied powers existed.
In Watkins v. United States (1957), the Supreme Court held that the power of the United States Congress to conduct investigation is not unlimited. The New York Times commented: "The Supreme Court has placed fundamental restrictions on a Congressional investigatory power that in recent years has been asserted as all but limitless.”
If the House Oversight Committee pushes the issue, the Supreme Court may set more narrow boundaries on congressional investigations.
In his farewell address, George Washington warned America against political parties. While the Constitution assigns political parties no role in government, it does not provide adequate safeguards against against them. Today Democrats and Republicans committee members use congressional oversight in ways that clearly transgresses the constitutional separation of power principle. The Supreme Court should reign in congressional committees when they abuse congressional oversight.
3
So they should have stepped in and stopped Devin Nunes last year, is that what you’re saying?
3
@William Case
The Constitution does not give Congress oversight power over the executive branch.
*****
The Attorney General also has oversight power over a Special Counsel.
2
@AACNY
The special counsel is appointed by and works from the attorney general. He is directly supervised by the deputy attorney general.
1
So this is what the death of a democracy looks like. When does the military takeover in lieu of a functioning government happen?
14
What's funny is that the Mueller Investigation has amounted to virtually zero, outside of the increasingly frantic assertion that Russia tried to affect the election outcome (as if US didn't do that 24/7 around the world). But one thing that DID come out of it is now starting to unfold, and which many NYT readers believe to be a "nothingburger" - the fact that the Trump campaign was spied on, including the insertion of multiple intelligence agency assets, with Hillary-lovers at the helm, and yet Trump STILL won the election! Imagine what this means for 2020 . . .
Dems don't seem to see where this is all headed - they are the ones moving more and more to change the system (whatever it takes) to force Trump out, rather than admit defeat and move on. For example, now some states are trying to block Trump from the primary ballot with the issue of the day - taxes. But even former CA Dem Gov Jerry Brown did not agree, stating:
"Today we require tax returns, but what would be next? Five years of health records? A certified birth certificate? High school report cards? And will these requirements vary depending on which political party is in power? A qualified candidate’s ability to appear on the ballot is fundamental to our democratic system."
This is what most Dems are blind to, unfortunately . . . what they are actually creating now while flailing around in endless legal battles with a billionaire developer . . . So stupid he became a US president.
5
@Victronix
At this point the left would rather change our entire election system than admit it lost to Donald J. Trump.
4
A meaningless political move based on party lines. Ironically Trump along with his supporters are contemptuous of the Judiciary Committee and its Chair who has already decided that Trump is guilty of multiple crimes even prior to hearings and investigations that are totally biased against Trump. In the end, it will be a penny drama and Barr will suffer no consequences and the Judiciary Committee will accomplish nothing except playing to its base.
3
Total obstruction by the White House and now by the Treasury to requests from Congress. This is elevating the presidency to a dictatorship, and saying that no oversight of the presidency is even possible. This is violating the law.
Earlier presidents and executive departments complied with Congress.
Congress with members that have the highest security clearances are not being permitted to see any of the evidence or the unredacted Mueller report.
The taxes would reveal any contacts with Russia or foreign interests, as well as any financial crimes.
There are three coequal branches of government.
No president is above the law. For this to happen on the very day that Michael Cohen is going to jail for crimes that Trump directed him to make such as the hush money payments shows the double standard at play.
We are now at a Constitutional crisis.
1229
@sarah
The redacted report is on my laptop in .pdf format?
Even if you meant unredacted, how could any of us know which of our representatives, regardless of party affiliation, have read it?
85
@SMB
Oh my! The outrage of it all. Releasing grand jury information is against the law. Jerry Nadler knows this. Nothing will come of this except you getting upset.
I'm sure that pesky tax fraud charge and lying to a financial institution that Cohen admitted to have nothing to do with why he's going to jail.
3
@sarah. “Redacted,” honey, is not the whole story. It’s like a wayward spouse giving you the bills for his business trip and leaving off those for the jewelry and lingerie he bought for his girlfriend. Gives us the whole story.
35
Someone needs to show where in the Constitution it says the President is above the law. Clearly the Justice Department policy of not indicting a sitting President has no basis in law. There is no law that shields the President. The framers knew that such a law would, in effect, bring tyranny. Given that tyranny was what the revolution was all about, there's no way that was their intention.
If anyone else would have been charged, then Trump should be charged ASAP.
9
Such childish shenanigans
The congressman with security clearances can see the entire full unredacted report.
Yet they do continue to play mean hardball for headlines. Shame on Dem.
7
No, they can’t read the unredacted report because they’re not being given access to it. What’s so hard to understand?
8
@Joe Yoh
They have seen none of the evidence, and only the redacted version of the report that Barr (after consultation with the White House) is permitting them to see.
2
@Joe Yoh
No, the congressmen (not man) with security clearances CANNOT see the entire full unredacted report.
1
The Mueller probe has been replaced buy the Nadler probe.
6
@John Corr
They're still trying to claim a "coverup" based on a letter that was based on comment that was based on the actual Mueller report, which is available to everyone to read without having to rely on letters or comments.
You cannot make this stuff up. But clearly they can.
2
I just finished reading an article, which stated that the authority of any person or thing (writings, statements, reports, businesses, products, etc.) depends on the veracity and trustworthiness of that authority.
Think of that idea in relation to the Trump presidency and the GOP and media enablers protecting him--no matter how much Trump lies; demeans people, the law, institutions, and key relationships; and intentionally and provocatively foments anger, hatred, a false consciousness, and even violence on his behalf.
As long as this country is based on the rule of law and is a democracy of, by, and for the people--as opposed to being a dictatorial, authoritarian regime based on the rule of men--the findings of the Mueller investigation must be disclosed and reported accurately.
It is Trump and Barr who have put the Democratic House in the position of needing to issue contempt charges and subpoenas, because of Trump and the GOP's flagrant attempts to minimize, stonewall, withhold, and misrepresent Mueller's findings and then cavalierly turn their collective backs on the authority of Congress.
Somebody has to enforce the rules of democratic politics, laws, and accountability. The Democrats really have no choice, and in this constitutional crisis of the Trump presidency, it is unfortunate and embarrassing that the Republicans have chosen to support the rule of one ignorant, unethical, and dangerous man over the rule of law.
I am glad the DOJ alumni issued its letter
3
We, the taxpayers, paid for the report. I want the whole report available.
7
We also paid for nuclear missiles. Are we entitled to a parts manual?
3
@pointofdiscovery
I paid for all of Hillary's emails, including the deleted ones. I want them now. See how that works?
3
Couldn't care less whether he testifies or not. It will just end with Democrats making wild accusations they can't back up,like always.
So tired of hearing about Russia. Its time for Americans to focus on America. If Democrats can't keep up, leave them behind.
7
Why are you republicans so afraid of the unreacted report being made public ?
10
As long as we have a president unwilling to confront the Russian elephant in the room of our elections, we’ve got major problems. It’s not unreasonable scrutiny and it’s not a democrat vs. republican thing.
6
@BBH Why are Democrats afraid of putting Americans first and doing their job?
This sideshow will end when the main act starting with the release of the IG report begins. It then will ramp up when Barr announces his indictments. The Dems know this will happen and people will be found guilty, All else is a smoke screen.
7
That’s legit hilarious.
7
@Edward
Those charged with perjury will certainly get another look. Were they set up because they might have harmful testimony later?
2
Barr will wind up in a cell next Trump's other attorney ending his career as Trump's Roy Cohn sycophant, how proud he must be.
6
This is exactly why people have no respect for Democrats. They are weak.
The deadline is past. But they have to wait three days. They have to deliberate, they have to dip their big toe in the water and take it out and dip it back in again. They have to send a letter; they have to consult with their colleagues etc. etc.
No. Barr didn’t produce the report? Day after the deadline you subpoena him to show up in Congress with the report the next day, He refuses, you send Federal Marshall’s to drag him and the report to Congress; then you jail him for contempt. Same with Don Jr, Jared all of them including Mueller.
We’re all sick and tired of the Democrats namby pamby approach to defending our democracy. Grow a spine. If Democrats don’t want to be an opposition party maybe we will form a party that will.
11
Don't hold your breath Mr. Nadler. However, here is a the deal. You can read the parts that are illegal for you to see. However, if the illegal remarks, that are for your eyes only, make their way into the media you go to jail. Deal?
5
"The House Judiciary Committee will vote Wednesday to hold Attorney General William P. Barr in contempt"
Does the Times have a crystal ball telling them how the Committee will vote? The title should have said ""The House Judiciary Committee will vote Wednesday WHETHER to hold Attorney General William P. Barr in contempt". Personally I hope they will, but I don't presume that I know what the future will bring..
2
@Charlesbalpha
Thank you for correcting that egregious headline.
NYT editors know that most people don't have the
time to read most articles and mainly scan the headlines.
The takeaway from a quick scan of this one is that the
vote is a done deal (is it Wednesday already ?) and that Barr has been held in contempt. Exactly what we're supposed to take away from it.
Ethical Editing sure isn't what it used to be !
1
@irene
Right. I remember a couple of years a NYTimes headline about "immigrants" being in danger of arrest.. They meant "illegal immigrants", but I don't think that omission was an accident. It was intended to scare immigrants so that they would be likely to support Democrats.
Trump's not the only one who distortss the truth; he's just clumsier at it. Since I'm an independent voter, I distrust both sides.
Why wait til Wednesday? Why not now? Why didn't you do it last week? Why haven’t you impeached Trump? What are you doing?!?!
14
Apparently Barr is the Democrats’ pathetic substitute for impeaching Trump. It’s nothing but bait and switch which won’t even fool their rank and file.
3
Long, lone overdue...
The real (and genuinely scary) question is whether Trump will, as expected, defy the subpoena and refuse to comply with the law.
In 1974, that was a real fear with Nixon -- that he'd refuse to leave office and invoke powers as Commander in Chief to defend his presidency. Thankfully, that didn't happen...
But unlike Nixon, Trump has managed to pack the Supreme Court as his ultimate "get out of jail, free" card!
450
@NYer
Yes, and they are there to do Trump’s bidding.
40
@NYer The Supreme Court will be conservative leaning for the rest of our lives. We will never see a liberal majority on the Supreme Court. How upsetting.
24
@NYer Compared to Trump, Nixon was a demi-god on Olympus. He was dishonest, but he was not genetically malevolent, as Trump is.
65
Vladimir Putin described well what went on with the Mueller team: a mountain labored and gave birth to a mouse. Few people seem to recognize this analogy that dates back to classic times. It makes much the same point as William Shakespeare's "much ado about nothing".
Donald Trump's enemies have plenty of things that they can validly attack him for. Why do they rely so much on the trivial or the downright false?
2
@John Smithson: I believe over 400 Democratic and Republican American former prosecutors over Putin. Trump committed obstruction of justice dozens of times. He should be removed and locked up.
7
@John Smithson
140 contacts with Russia during the campaign.
34 indictments.
10 possible cases of obstruction of justice with more than 300 former prosecutors and Justice Department officials saying that if Trump were not president, he would be prosecuted.
2 departments at the Kremlin involved in interfering with the 2016 election.
Putin was in the KGB for years, a man who has assassinated his enemies, jailed protesters, and enriched himself to an obscene degree.
Russia is pointing almost 1,500 nuclear missiles at the United States. It is not a friend.
The matter of a massive Russia attack on the election is not trivial. This is national security at stake.
Putin quoting Shakespeare isn't convincing. (The phrase is much older, by the way.)
6
@John Smitson
I work for top 5 global eCommerace corporation in IT security. Our task last week was to create and present a detailed case study about the Russian DNC and DCCC hack for leadership. With the Meuller report and myriad of court documents its a fascinating case study about tactics and tools used by state actors. Most corporate hacks are not accompanied by the level of detail in this case. All I can say if you're not employed in IT security you might want to put down you cell phones and laptops. The modern battlefield has moved to the internet. I reccomend learning about a thing called Cyber Kill Chain - https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/capabilities/cyber/cyber-kill-chain.html if you want to get an idea of how these attacks are promulgated on the internet. Then times by 10 or 100 when the GRU or CIA/NSA is involved. Everyone should understand the everyday threat that resides on the internet. The average user is a corporation's greatest vulnerability.
3
Hold Barr's feet to the fire. He's not only nothing special but he is actively undermining th entire concept and validity of the DOJ.
NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW and, the last time I looked, Congress makes the laws, not the DOJ.
Make the Toadie testify or lock him up like anyone else that defies a duly-executed subpoena and is found in contempt. Whatever he or his boss Trump do, hold them both to the fire - that is why we elected you, to speak for us - and WE are not cowards!
11
AG Barr, whether you like him or not, is bound by law to protect information gathered by a grand jury that did not lead to an indictment. The law is very clear on this point and no bellyaching about it will lead anywhere.
Allowing grand jury deliberations to be made public is definitely not the right thing to do from a precedent POV - regardless of the current political value it may achieve. Grand juries evaluate whether or not to indict and utilize many powerful tools of state to gather evidence and testimony - many of which compel speech or reduce agency; making the evidence they collect extremely privileged that the making-public-of would violate on the basic rules of our nation: innocent until proven guilty. If the state doesn’t move to indict you, would you want your personal details and information made public? Just the fact that a grand jury investigated you will color your public regulation regardless of the outcome.
I know we are in “political total war” but grand jury secrecy is not a Pandora’s box you want to open. It will never go back; the payoff is too juicy politically.
2
@Evan Thayer: Ken Starr had no problem making EVERY detail of the Whitewater investigation public, NOTHING redacted, before Congress even had the time to read his report.
4
For the former doj attorneys list, another list could easily be compiled with the opposite opinion. All of this is subjective. For example, current DOJ attorneys believe the opposite. This type of list has little credibility with regards to anything. More credibly, Muelle noted the intent was complex under the circumstances, and his team was not able to decipher it. Barr also noted that Mueller told him their decision was not based on OLC policy not to indict a sitting president, debunking statements associated with this list.
1
Barr should be held in contempt. He does hold the Congress in contempt and he exhibits it with every request of Congress for help in investigating what went on with Trump. Barr shows no interest in dealing with the Russians, either, in obvious deference to Trump's fear that acknowledging their interference by trying to stop more of it, it contributes to his personal insecurities. Frankly, Barr should probably be impeached for failure to uphold his oath to the Constitution to show loyalty to the President.
479
@Casual Observer
All these niceties!!! Held for contempt! And then what?
Impeach the clown and then prosecute him for lying under oath.
Enough with verbiage and pretense that we live in a country were the law prevails.
58
@Casual Observer
All those Russian assets need to be investigated. Especially Joseph Misfud.
11
@Casual Observer " High Crimes and Misdemeanors " should be meant for Barr, Trump and the whole republican party throwing America down the drain.
Disbar them all.
America first and foremost. That's why I am a American and for America first.
20
Pelosi is not leading well. She should have issued the subpoenas ages ago and voted for contempt the second that clown didn’t show up. Too slow and too ineffective. We are dealing with liars and crooks working for a mafia boss.
23
I am amazed at all the comments nit picking while the elephant in the room is a pathetically inadequate constitution. It is not suited for a democracy. Clearly the President and his appointees seem to be above the law for all intents and purposes. You have to be really naive to believe we can get anywhere without accepting the fact that we need a new and contemporary body of laws governing our political system.
Unless you are from another planet, the fascistic elements of this administration should make your eyes pop.
9
@Blunt
Even the Democracy Index compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), a UK-based company. evaluates the U.S as a flawed democracy.
1
The Dems just aren’t smart enough to let this go. Nothing happened to Eric Holder when he was held in contempt.
7
@Jackson
Let what go?
Are you joking? Barr needs to be impeached and then prosecuted for lying to Congress.
If you are suggesting there is anything materially similar with the Holder case, I have nothing to say to you.
5
@Jackson: Holder was eventually fully exonerated.
2
@Jackson
Of course, they know it won't go anywhere.
Barr should have thought twice about transforming the position of Attorney General into Trump’s personal fixer. Look how well that job turned out for Michael Cohen. He”s locked up. Who’s next?
15
Democrats need to make an example of Barr, and pursue him with the utmost determination. Otherwise, trump has won: everytime the democrats will want to investigate Trump or is minions, they will simply refuse to comply with subpoenas.
18
I don't see why the Democratic Party thinks that further chasing unrealistic consequences of the Mueller report is a good preparation for the next election. Seriously, without the help of the senate nothing will happen to Trump.
At the end of the day the Democrats haven't produced any success - they even failed to impeach Trump. Even if Putin hasn't significantly interfered in the last election the result couldn't be much more in his interest. It's obvious that a new campaign strategy is urgently needed for Democrats. Wake up!
2
@Rock solid: The House will not fail to impeach Trump if they vote to do so. But the House cannot remove Trump. That is up to the Senate, who in its current composition, will fail to remove an unfit president.
@Rock solid
Because the democrats' angry leftwing doesn't care about actually winning an election. Its members would rather spend the time indulging their Trump animus.
2
Fighting over power between the executive and legislative is as old as American History
"Throughout America's history dominance of one of the three branches has essentially been a see-saw struggle between Congress and the president. "
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separation_of_powers_under_the_United_States_Constitution
Nothing new here. Indeed, the norm, when executive and legislative are under the power of different parties.
Check, as an example, the history of the Tenure of Office Act, passed by Congress to restrict the power of the executive, in force 1867 to 1887
3
It's frustrating to watch the Democrat Congress scrupulously follow the rules and attempt in good faith to negotiate with this White House. As a voter, it's tiring because we already know the outcome.
BUT. It is not a waste of time. When, not if, these subpoenas go to the courts in a battle between two coequal branches, the courts will consider whether each side took good-faith steps to negotiate and cooperate. One side is doing that, the other is not. The sheer scale of the stonewalling also makes it more likely that courts will expedite the legal process.
At the end of the day, it doesn't matter a whole lot whether these documents and witnesses are produced now or in a year, but they WILL come out. And it may redound to Democrats' electoral benefit if they come out in Summer 2020 rather than now.
This strikes me as not a PR strategy but as a litigation strategy, and a rather wise one.
12
Legally, Barr may redact portions of the report relating to Grand Jury deliberations (but not its witnesses), matters of national security, and information about ongoing investigations.
But there is no oversight on Barr himself. He has the sole power to determine what should be redacted. And given the sordid history of the Trump administration and the president's lackeys, there is good reason not to trust Barr.
The House committee is right to challenge Barr with a subpoena. But given the legality of Barr's position, it might be difficult to make a strong enough case that he is acting to protect Trump in order to convince a judge to order release of the full report.
131
@Jerry Engelbach Only one problem with your statement. Barr worked hand in hand with Mueller's team to do their redactions. More fake news.
16
@Jerry Engelbach It does seem like this is political posturing that is not going to matter in reality. The idea that Jerry Nadler and his colleagues are going to find anything hidden in the redactions or the underlying evidence is a loony one.
10
@Jon Galt Apparently not. Why else the Mueller letter? But if so, Barr and Trump should be eager foe Mueller to testify.
38
Barr did not comply at 9am. Hold him in contempt NOW.
Schedule all votes NOW.
Stop tiptoeing!
HOLD THEM ALL ACCOUNTABLE.
Or our republic is lost.
9
Republican responses to what is collective misconduct on the part of the administration is truly beyond belief. Even Machiavelli would be speechless.
2
The Democrats are laying the groundwork for an attempt to prevent the IG report from being released and to try and buffer AG Barr’s investigation of the Obama administrations spying on the President. If the Dems can get something into court they will have cover going forward.
4
Barr likes to cite “standard department practice” when justifying his political maneuvering. At this level, he should be specifically citing the legal statutes and case law that holds the AG exempt from congressional subpoena, that he does not have to turn over the full report to Congress or appear before the House. Otherwise, he’s just making this process up on the fly.
270
So Barr and Trump first said that they had no problem with Mueller talking to Congress. Trump has an unrecorded telephone call with Putin. ( Trump said Putin smiled when they talked about Mueller. Does the President do Facetime ?) After the call Trump and Barr both announce Mueller will not be testifying before Congress. Amazing coincidence.
6
If AG Barr was representing the people he would not be a Trump apologist. But apparently he is and for that reason he should be impeached.
11
trump is looking for a spanking, and he should get what he's looking for. Barr should take it on the chin first. The House is looking for what is rightfully theirs, and unredacted Mueller report and all supporting paperwork. Barr and Mueller should also testify for the House, whether they like it or not.
This is serious business. Our very democracy and our solvency as a nation depends on finding the real story. I remember people saying Nixon would never go down, and what he did to this nation was like cheating at Candyland compared with what trump has done to this nation, and that is only including what we know now.
Let's put it all out on the table, so that all can see. We all have a stake in this.
49
Paper this entire Administration with subpoenas! Grand jury hearings into his adult family, including Trumps sister.
Put their feet to the fire and make life utterly miserable for the entire bunch of crooks.
66
This is the most honest post I have seen on Democrats are doing. It also perfectly explains the why Trump is responding as he his.
1
@Patrick alexander
says the guy who doesn't have a clue as to what a subpoena is or how it works
1
@Patrick alexander. Oh god would I love to see that!
Although combative political actions should generally be avoided as unproductive and damaging, Trump, his administraton and the spineless congressional Republicans leave the Democratic leadership no choice. The congessional Democrats must aggressively pursue the truth regarding the findings of Robert Mueller and his team of investigators.
The POTUS is an inveterate liar. He has surrounded himself with cabinet members and administrators who are willing to lie on command. American democracy is imperiled by their unending shameless deceit.
The Democrats in congress must use every legal means possible to uncover the truth and reveal Trump’s wrong doing. And the wrong doing of his toadies.
No holds barred!
517
@Tom W
I agree. They congressional democrats must investigate the findings of the two year investigation that didn't find anything. They need to let the FBI investigate the DNC servers and they should investigate Joseph Misfud.
3
Violate federal law against releasing grand jury information so we can impeach and remove you from office, or refuse to violate the law and we’ll hold you in contempt. Smart!
7
@areader,
That's called fair play! Take it, Reps!
First of all the entire report is available to those in Congress with clearance to read the unredacted version. Next, we must ask is it within the law to release the entire document to all of Congress. This is a legal issue and if Congress wants to place him in contempt, let the legal battle begin. However, there is no collusion and no obstruction according to the investigator Mueller and the Attorney General Barr.
Let them fight it out legally, but be civil, and work under the law.
Everyone must remember how this all began. Was that legal?
The US Courts will have to work hard to give equal justice under the law without prejudice to a person or political party. Then we the people will have to swallow the decisions and move on with life.
4
That isn’t true. Congress has not seen the entire report, and none of the Democrats entitled to see this slightly less redacted report have taken Barr up on the offer. Congress needs to have all of the report and supporting paperwork available. Innocent people have nothing to fear, but trump sure is acting guilty.
Put it all on the table. All of that information belongs to all of us.
14
@DS
Keeping things secret from the Congress and the people has never sat well with those of us who are aware of the many abuses of privilege in order to protect public officials and government agencies from exposure of their misdeeds.
Transparency is the only guarantee against such abuse, even if there is the risk of unfavorable consequences.
6
@Jerry Engelbach
Yes, except here, by not disclosing the unredacted report, Barr is in fact complying with the Indep Counsel statute, which gives him and him alone the ability to determine what portions, if any, of the report get released to Congress or the public. The Dem leadership and NYT fail to mention this key fact because it does not advance their narrative
4
How great it would be if a majority of Republicans also voted in favor of the contempt issue. It would show that at least some have not lost sight of their spines and still respect the rule of law and our Constitution.
8
@Cleareye How telling that not a single one is asking for transparency. They are all-in on the cover-up.
The attempts to obfuscate and obscure our view of the Mueller report on the part of Trump and hired guns like AG Barr are tangible, red flags that the president is in complete damage control mode. The members of the House need not fear they will be called on their action against Barr, as the substance of Trump’s crimes will need to be fully exposed.
Let’s keep the president’s behaviors in clear focus here...Michael Cohen is donning a department of corrections suit for the next 3 years, and will exit prison rightly disbarred from legal practice. Meanwhile, his former boss who masterminded the make-my-mistress problem go away continues to proclaim total exoneration when it is he who should be in the adjacent cell.
Justice needs to be served and none of Trump’s antics and those of his henchman should go unpunished.
454
@JH
You have no idea why Michael Cohen is going to jail. Absolutely no clue. You are completely ignorant of the charges he is actually charged with.
@No Remorse
It's rime for some remorse if you care about US democracy. One of the well known charges against Cohen, where President Trump is a co-conspirator, is breaking campaign finance law with payoffs to Trumps bedmates.
It is almost always the Trump apologists that are unaware of the facfs, often willfully unaware.
The Fox diet.
27
@No Remorse
If you mean his lying to special counsel about timing of Moscow Project, it’s in the indictment. The payments to mistresses were separate business.
17
Trump is the head clown in this clown show of presidency the fact that supposedly mainstream republicans support him tells me all I need to know about todays brand of republicans.
19
Now that it's clear to everyone paying attention that Trump obstructed justice, he's implicitly challenging Congress with the bully's infuriating taunt, 'so what are you going to do about it?' This can only end well for Trump at a terrible cost to the country and the constitution he swore an oath to defend. Confess is left with no option but to act now. No more deadlines!
16
In an extraordinary move, over 300 former US Dept. of Justice prosecutors post this open letter:
https://medium.com/@dojalumni/statement-by-former-federal-prosecutors-8ab7691c2aa1
Here is the critical excerpt:
"We are former federal prosecutors. We served under both Republican and Democratic administrations at different levels of the federal system: as line attorneys, supervisors, special prosecutors, United States Attorneys, and senior officials at the Department of Justice. The offices in which we served were small, medium, and large; urban, suburban, and rural; and located in all parts of our country."
"Each of us believes that the conduct of President Trump described in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report would, in the case of any other person not covered by the Office of Legal Counsel policy against indicting a sitting President, result in multiple felony charges for obstruction of justice."
And that's after reading the Mueller Report with the redactions and without seeing the supporting evidence.
BARR must have missed the MEMO.
192
@rab
You believe even 10 of the 300 who signed the letter read the entire report first? Want to buy a bridge in Brooklyn for a real good price? Let's talk!
4
@GregP - it's a best seller on Amazon right now, so someone is reading it.
13
@GregP
That makes no sense.
As the O.P. said, the letter is based solo on reading the redacted report.
6
"Contempt of Congress" is a paper tiger with no bite, and only highlight more succinctly our system, despite all its rules, is actually an honor system that depends on trust. Once that trust breaks down, there is no effective remedy. At least that's how it is with people with power. Small people with no power will simply get crushed even when they are innocent.
More over, it's all just a formality, because AG Barr and his boss, Trump, and his executive branch have already been acting contemptuously towards anybody trying to exercise oversight over them. That's what got us the Mueller report to start with.
I hope somebody is looking to modify the rule governing the special counsel. It is thoroughly ridiculous and meaningless to have provision for a special counsel whose report is not independent from the political forces that requires it. As such, a "special counsel" gives a mirage of independence when it ultimately has none. The people are cruelly strung along with false hope like dummies only to be dropped into the abyss, like dummies.
Joe Scarborough railed this morning that American people could not be so stupid. By his definition, Joe is stupid for thinking so. Please, just survey the various conservative websites and see how much American people believe Trump and his minions.
6
I don’t see Barr getting locked up. However, this puts Trump in an obstructive (bad) light which will rally his base and erode his support with everyone else. The irony is that most of the information is probably out there and that Trump is resisting because he’s a fascist jerk. Democrats must hammer the Nixon connection. Let the Republicans continue to defend NixonTrump.
14
@Doug Lowenthal
The more Trump defies Congress, the more likely I am to vote for him again. Congress deserves contempt.
3
@Greg
Congress is doing its job. It's called oversight, something the do nothing republicans failed to do for 2 years. Get used to it. And yet they give themselves pay raises yearly.
4
@Greg
That's ok Greg. In a normal curve, there are always data points at each extreme.
Your declaration is unimpressive.
4
Why Wednesday. It should have been done today at 9:01 am when Barr did not show up!!! Stop being wimps and fight for our country!
79
What a sorry spectacle is this creature known as Barr.
[And his pathetic excuse for refusing to appear before the House committee is that this long experienced attorney doesn’t want to be questioned by other attorneys.]
19
Just do it.
61
An old, powerful, grouchy, white male treating others with contempt? Stop the presses!
8
The entire administration is contemptible, from top to bottom. The rule of law, fairness, decency, transparency, the public's right to know...none of this means anything toTrump and his gang of crooks, thieves, liars, white supremacists, racists, and closet fascists. They see the law as a threat to themselves and well they should.
14
William Barr is just the latest Republican scofflaw and political miscreant to demonstrate his utter contempt for checks and balances, democracy, the will of the people, the rule of law and the United States Constitution.
Grand Old Power is all the Republican racketeering political syndicate is all about.
Obfuscate, obstruct, obscure and overthrow your way to illegitimate power.... ethics, norms, transparency and democracy are for suckers in their authoritarian playbook.
No sentient individual denies the fact that Russia interfered with the 2016 election. (The Hoaxer-In-Chief denies it, but consider the source...)
America deserves an honest look at the national security threat that is the Kremlin and the report that describes that national security threat.
William Barr is a whitewasher of the first order; he deserves the full contempt and condemnation of Congress, the American people and history as the man who loves to pardon Republican executive lawbreaking, malfeasance and international shenigans.
Lock him up !
267
How is this a defense of the childish Trump’s very extensive misconduct? Try to stay on topic.
14
@EGD
Your "facts" are incorrect.
https://www.politifact.com/facebook-fact-checks/statements/2018/dec/07/blog-posting/complex-tale-involving-hillary-clinton-uranium-rus/
12
Well said.
6
Holder payback.
1
Just. Do. It.
4
Trump would have been gone long ago if thugs like Meadows, Jordan, Geitz, McConnell and Graham weren’t so self-centered and afraid to stand up and educate their constituencies.
8
This needs to done and more.
This administration has flipped it's finger at the law and it needs to be stopped.
One would never think that in this day and age our country would get someone so self serving as Trump, truly the 2016 election was one of the worst in the history of this country.
6
Easy. The contempt charge will go through the courts and finally up to SCOTUS which will find that somehow the Constitution stipulates that anyone attempting to hold any politician named Trump accountable must immediately be executed by the state and all future elections be cancelled so that Trump can be president for life and all his opponents and their Facebook friends (the founding fathers were very prescient) be executed as well. (Meanwhile those five Republican justices will be both amply rewarded for voting the president’s way - and severely threatened if they don’t.) Then Trump will get us into a war with Iran and order a nationwide internet blackout “for security reasons.” Within five years anyone who has ever been a registered Democrat will be “disappeared” by the state. Everyone else will also soon die because their health care will have disappeared, but, being Trump voters, they’ll die happy knowing that their guns are safe and all those non-white people died first. The Trump family will then escape to Mars to start a new colony while the world burns. All because you thought Hillary was too shrill. The end.
16
Can not be soon enough...
1
Trump’s previous fixer/lawyer is in jail tonight. Why does anyone volunteer to do Trump’s dirty work for him?
1
Barr MUST be held in contempt and forced to suffer the consequences of defying the law; the ABA should also consider whether he should be disbarred. Trump's own contempt for the law is corrosive and taints everyone who serves him; we see it trickling down to others who think they no longer need to comply with subpoenas. Our legal system deserves better, and the people who are sworn to uphold the law must do so before our legal system is completely broken,
700
@Raul Campos - well, if you want to call it nit-picking to point out that his answers were proven lies.
25
@A.K.G
The ABA does not have the power to disbar anyone. It is, literally, a private club. Mostly of liberals. That’s all it is. They write books and articles and have cocktail parties.
1
America Bar Association does not have the power to disbar but I get your point.
4
Obama's position was that confidentiality allowed more people to be willing to cooperate. Barr's is the opposite. Obama gave his reasons. Barr and Trump don't have any reason to frustrate the Congress. Obama, Holder, and the Congress were on the same side of "Fast and Furious." The issue here is closer to Nixon's defiance of the rule of law. Trump and Barr expect the high approval ratings to shield them. They probably will.
3
Mr. Nadler needs to remember how Feinstein handled the Kavanaugh hearing, and then take a good long look at the Mid-Term results as it pertains to the Senate and draw some conclusions. Democrats LOST seats in the Senate, even while gaining a fair number in the House. What did the Senate do that the House didn't? MMM? Could it be the over the top behavior in the all out Smear of Kavanaugh? Why Yes, it certainly could be. But dim bulbs seldom learn so Mr. Nadler will repeat the same mistake as his dinosaur counterpart, with the same results.
2
@GregP
But he is in contempt of Congress. Doesn’t that matter at all to you?
3
@BMM
No, not in the slightest. Not THIS Congress who is making demands for things that the Law does not allow. Mueller wrote the report, the Law requires the redactions and Barr is a proven quantity who served in past Administrations with no objections. This is nothing but theater. So what if Barr is in contempt?
1
I wonder how likely it is that a contempt citation would pass in a vote in the full House. Are all the moderate Democrat on board (especially the ones in swing districts who were elected in 2018 and flipped the Chamber)? Some of them have voted against the party line before, and the Democrats' margin is thin. Presumably the party would whip the vote very hard, if it really gets that far.
17 House Democrats vote for the contempt citation against former Attorney General Eric Holder, and 13 House Republicans voted to overturn President Trump's emergency declaration that bypassed Congress on funding for the border wall. It seems unlikely there would be any bipartisan support for a citation against current Attorney General Bill Barr.
1
All I want to know is if I was subpoenaed by the House and failed to comply would I only be issued a hollow contempt charge or would I get some lock up time before I was arraigned before a judge?
5
It’s plain as day that Barr is sitting on Mueller’s report - a report which Mueller himself declared Barr has, to say the least, misinterpreted and spun to the favor of the President - for reasons that can only be construed as political and partisan, a disgraceful position for the country’s AG. Barr should be held in contempt, and every effort should be made to pry Mueller’s report from a DOJ that is acting more like a WH law firm than a law enforcement agency. This is the people’s report, and should be made public for the people to draw its own conclusions.
560
@the doctor How is Barr sitting on the report when he has released a full version unredacted except for the grand jury 6E information. Which by law he is not allowed to do. Talk about disinformation
6
@Jon Galt
He offered the report to 12 selected lawmakers.
Not to the entire Congress.
40
@Jon Galt - at the time of writing, he hasn't released any such thing to anybody. Talk about disinformation...
47
I'd never seen a lap-dog in a suit before; but, now I have.
88
@george eliot What about Holder, BO's "wing man."
@Jane Doe, What about whoever? What about your dog? What about your fifth grade teacher? What about staying on topic?
4
Any person who fails to comply with a subpoena from the Congress of the United States is defying the Citizens of the United States. Billy Barr belongs in jail until he complies, as does Mr. Trump.
34
It will be fun watching Republicans squirm and fumble as they fend off criticism and charges of obstruction. It will also be fun to hear the hapless defense of these hypocrites by the loser Republican voters. Boo hoo! Boo hoo!
2
This means nothing. Vote Wednesday, next week or next month. The question is where does this lead? These stories about "we're going to do this or that" is a waste of words and ink. Held in contempt reminds me of when my parents told me if I didn't eat my veggies, no playing outside or TV for a week. Lets just say I managed to scrape my knees at the playground and was caught up on my looney tunes.
5
@D.aug your analogy is less than fitting; except for the fact that, yes, our president acts like a child, the power of the legislative branch of government isn't the authority that your parents wielded.
2
What are you hiding, Mr. Barr? The whole world is watching as you turn us into a banana republic. If a nation doesn’t have the rule of law, then what does it have?
66
Don't let censure of Barr divert from impeachment of Trump.
5
Should the headline not be “vote _whether_ to hold Barr in contempt” or “vote on Barr contempt charge”, I.e. something that connotes the unpredictability of a future event?
We are becoming painfully inured to the steady abuse of power and privilege of the Trump administration, including its head toady William Barr. Our democracy really is imperiled when the Attorney General refuses to comply with the subpoena asking for more information about the Mueller report. History will judge the Democrats as docile or cowardly if they don't proceed with the contempt charge. This is pretty serious.
868
You say it's serious but Eric Holder was held in contempt of Congress in 2012 and I only found out about that yesterday. Unless it results in them getting the unredacted report and evidence, it means bupkis.
6
@Brett
Wasn't Holder in contempt for to releasing documents about the Fast and Furious issue? Didn't Congress eventually get the report that
Holder didn't want to give them?
19
@Brett
Yes and no. The "contempt of Congress" charge levied against Eric Holder was eventually thrown out in court, which held that the charge was unnecessary and unwarranted. That same court, however, ordered Holder to produce any non-privileged documents that Congress requested--which he ultimately did.
27
Until people in power start getting handcuffed and put in "real-people's" jail AND when real people start voicing their opposition in the streets, risking limb and life...why would anyone in DC think they should be accountable for their subversion of the US Constitution...?
30
@Mulholland Drive
Well, if you want someone handcuffed and locked up, let's start with your girlfriend Hillary. She committed and broke so many laws and she is still running around talking like she didn't do anything. That's a travesty of justice! She should be the first one locked up!
2
@Victor - Go ahead. Name the laws that were supposedly broken.
6
@Victor
You have absolutely no evidence for any of these assertions.
3
Is there a questions? Barr IS in contempt of congress. Lock him up. Lock him up. (etc.)
75
@Watchful
Yes, there ARE questions. What is he in contempt of? Not releasing an unredacted report...which would be illegal? Please educate us as to the relevant parts of the report that should be unredacted.
There may well be occasions during which Congress' council should be the entity under close scrutiny, as is suggested by supporters of the president. This is not one of those times.
1
Will the Congressional contempt charges for Mr. Barr be sent to the “Bar”? His license to practice law should be temporarily suspended until he settles the matter with Congress.
31
The chance that this criminal republican administration would respond in good faith was always zero. Now it's time for the hammer.
68
@markymark
I think the criminal administration lost the election 3 years ago.
1
Why wait?
3
GOOD. And let's not forget to compel Mueller to testify.
41
@atb
For what? He did nothing except uphold the law. We should be investigating Hillary not Bar!
1
The personal privacy reductions and ongoing matters should be given to the House Judiciary Committee. It is likely that a court order is needed for 6b grand jury information. Barr deserves to be held in contempt.
20
This is a living laboratory on constitutional law and college-level government courses. You can feel the ghosts of Madison, Jefferson, Adams, Franklin and Washington observing whether their document actually works today as they hoped.
The Founding Fathers did foresee tyranny and gave future lawmakers the tools to deal with it.
Whether today's House and Senate members can function according to the basics of our government is front center now.
158
@Doc, Thanks. You remember when the Repyblicans were eager to speak about "The Founding Fathers" and Alito's views on the Constitution. Wouldn't you like to hear from those Republicans now about Trump and Barr?
5
@Doc. Alas, our Founding Fathers did not foresee the studied immorality and abject cowardice of the GOP.
1
So Senate Republicans sit by timidly and just allow "Tyrant Trump" to repeatedly defy their own Congressional constitutional powers and attempt to destroy their position as a co-equal branch of the government.
What in the world is wrong with these people?
158
@JM
They are Waiting for Godot.
8
@JM They are actually being rational. The GOP has spent the last fifty or so years hoodwinking voters because their policies are deeply unpopular so they obfuscate their economic policies which only benefit the wealthy and corporations and put forth social positions that will animate the unschooled. I think the gig is just about up. Trump's popularity with the Republican voters keeps the GOP Congress in check, because without them, they will be voted out. It is unsustainable for the long haul but it's sort of fun in the meantime watching guys like McConnell, Pence, Rubio, and Graham having to kiss the ample bottom of a guy they neither like nor respect. They surely got the leader they deserve.
16
@JM
Greed.
10
Mueller deliberately held back on recommending indictment because he said this was a matter of Congress needing to impeach.
Now Trump says “no do-overs.”
But the process is only half-done.
You can’t call the game over at half-time.
131
@Toms Quill
It's like the election your girlfriend LOST, no do overs. Get over it!
1
@Victor
"Get over it"?
You're the one that can let go. Hillary left the building, so to speak, a long time ago.
18
@Denis Pelletier
Yup, Mueller deliberately held back. That's it. He didn't find any evidence of collusion or obstruction on purpose. It's all part of the plan.
Contempt. Sadly yes.
7
Since it appears that DOJ is compromised at the highest levels Congress should employ outside counsel to sue Mnuchin and Barr. In Mnuchin's case Congress should readily obtain a summary judgement ordering him to turn over Trump's returns.
43
@bikegeezer
You are a dreamer aren't you? The obstruction occurred with the last administration, Obama should be the one that is guilty and should be investigated along with Hillary.
1
WHY wait.
Do it NOW.
20
@Moehoward
Agree. Action. No waiting. Remember the old movie "Playing For Time" and what that was all about!
2
Why wait until Wednesday? Like this is going to make the TrumpCo criminal cartel suddenly start complying? How many times do you let someone say, "I dare ya!" before you take the dare? If Trump and his flying monkeys have finally broken the system - let's find out and get it over with.
25
We seem to be undergoing a constitutional crisis in slow motion. It will resolved eventually by the Supreme Court which will have to decide whether the Executive should acquire even more power relative to the Legislative.
18
@Diogenes
The Supreme Court Incorporated, unfortunately.
1
Coming up with a Congressional 'interview' change after 200 years of precedent should mean the Nadler should face contempt proceedings.
3
They are asking for him to break the law. Parts of the report of protected by Grand Jury laws. This is all a show.
6
@Tom
The Grand Jury is no longer active. It is up to Congress to decide not the AG. Lock Him Up.
5
@Tom ... you should go back and read past history regarding releasing Grand Jury information to Congress. Maybe check out the Nixon presidential era.
5
@Margo Channing
Margo
It doesn't matter whether the Grand Jury is still active. Congress has no authority to override that restriction
Symbolic gestures is not good enough.
Send him to jail if the law allows. Show some spine and prove that congress is good for something.
117
@Surya Congress has done that before, but not in a long time. (I believe most recently in 1930.)
2
“Democrats have launched a proxy war smearing the attorney general when their anger actually lies with the president and the special counsel, who found neither conspiracy nor obstruction,” Mr. Collins said.
Here's a grand idea- why not just comply with congressional subpoena?
If it were a Democrat in office, Mr. Collins would be singing a different tune.
Anyone else sick of the hypocrisy?
208
@BM There is hypocrisy on both sides - that's why their titles are "politicians."
@BM - Actually, the special counsel did not find "neither conspiracy nor obstruction". On conspiracy, he stated there wasn't sufficient evidence to meet the criminal standard for conspiracy. That doesn't mean there weren't countless suspicious contacts between the Trump campaign and its reps and Putin and his minions. It simply means that these contacts didn't rise to the level of a crime. Wow! Such an accomplishment. Their extensive contacts missed the mark for a crime. On obstruction, Mueller indicates just the opposite of Collin's assertion. In deference to the OLC opinion, he declined to indict a sitting president. Therefore, he didn't feel it fair to reach a conclusion on obstruction because the president would have no way to defend himself, as he would in court if he were indicted. Mueller also stated something like, "neither do we exonerate him". No OLC opinion that prevented Mueller from exonerating the president, if he felt the evidence did, in fact exonerate him. But Mueller didn't exonerate the president. Because Mueller didn't feel the evidence exonerated the president. Ergo, the statement that the special counsel found "neither conspiracy nor obstruction" is a wild mischaracterization of Mueller's report. Which is why we need to hear from Mueller. And Barr's report that Mueller didn't believe the Barr spin document was inaccurate is just that. Barr's own report. And we know how forthright Barr has been. Which is why we need to hear from Mueller.
27
@BM
The Attorney General of The US lied under oath to Congress. Let it slide.
The Attorney General of The US purposely altered the substance and context of the Mueller report to protect The President. Let it slide.
The Attorney general of the US ignored a duly authorized subpoena. Let it slide.
The Attorney general of The United States trashed his oath of office. Let it slide.
The Attorney general is a criminal. Put him in jail until he understands the Constitution of The United States.
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We are truly witnessing the most criminal administration in history. Any Republican should be ashamed of themselves, at this point, if they still support this joke of a "President." On top of that, the GOP and Trump seemed to have abandoned many of the cornerstones of Republican ideology, like law and order, and fiscal responsibility. Total nightmare.
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When you pull back the curtain, it all boils down to tax cuts and military spending for the party of "personal responsibility." Craven. Destructive. And, hopefully, obsolete.
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@Kevin
Those “cornerstones” were always phony.
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@raph101, please add the 100 conservative federal judges Trump and McConnell have gotten appointed.
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Every time Republicans fight transparency, I donate to Democrats.
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@Covert. I like your thinking, but hope you don't go broke.
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@Covert
You must be broke! ;-)
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You must be broke by now.
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Democrats still wasting time. They never learn. Do it tomorrow morning! No reason to wait for Wednesday.
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@Mark
As sad as it is to say, the Democratic party knows it really can't do anything to hold Trump et. al. responsible without control of the Senate. That is why they are trying to be procedural and fair, and stretch the outrage closer towards the elections. It's unsatisfying politics, but it's unfortunately how our system works.
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@Mark Congressmen and women on the committee are off today (most back in their districts) and won't return to the floor for voting until tomorrow evening. Wednesday is the first moment they'll be able to convene.
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@Ana
The duty station is in DC. That is where they ought and need to be. Today!
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I remember when Eric Holder was held in contempt of Congress. Being held in contempt doesn't mean anything.
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@John Yeah, it put a mark on Holder's record - which got him a corner office and a six figure salary at a big law firm.
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I don’t believe you’re correct in saying that. You can be jailed!
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@John If u read the article you’ll note that it actually resulted in the documents being turned over...
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Good. Enough talk.
Trump's strategy is to bog up Congressional committees with endless obfuscation, evasive tactics, and non-response responses.
Attorney General Barr didn't show at the Judiciary Committee and ignored a subpoena to hand over the full Mueller report and evidence.
When he took this job, Barr swore to support and defend the Constitution of the United States without any purpose of evasion. Barr's statements last week all but rescinds that portion of the oath that he took two and a half months ago.
Wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee will vote on a resolution of contempt. After it passes, Congress should then immediately refer it to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, who then will immediately refer it to a grand jury for action. Contempt of Congress has criminal penalties of not less than one month nor more than twelve months in jail and a fine of not more than $100,000.
All of those efforts will be time and money well spent, for the good of America and the world.
Let the chips fall where they may.
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@Ed
I just don't understand why Congress and other governmental agencies can't get expedited federal court hearings. Why should it take six months? The particular claims such as obstructing justice are too important to have to wait in line. What else are the courts hearing that is more important right now to America?
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@Mimi
You're right! Attorneys file motions to shorten time or motions on an expedited basis all the time for emergency litigation like a restraining order, etc.
If there was ever an emergency to speed up the time line for litigation, this is it. It's allowed, it just needs to be requested and it definitely should be granted.
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@Ed
The sad thing is they will be glad to pay the money. $100,000 is nothing
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During his confirmation hearings, AG Barr said he would release as much information about the Mueller report as the law allows. Barr provided a summary followed by the redacted Mueller report. The redactions were necessary to maintain the privacy of grand jury testimony.
The House Democrats are now threatening to hold Barr in contempt for doing what he said he would do and what the law allows him to do.
To me, the House threat conforms that the Democrats Party is ethically bankrupt and serves only to thwart and inhibit all of President Trump's polices and personnel.
Their continued actions will serve only to guarantee another four years of the Trump Administration.
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You're not reading the mood of the country very well, though you have articulated the Trump supporter viewpoint quite well.
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@Ed Kmiec
After Barr misrepresented the findings of the Mueller report in the first place with his non-summary memo summary, and then held a press conference in advance of the release of the redacted report to put his best spin on the media narrative...somehow, we should all just take him at his word that the redactions are necessary, and not just covering up even more damning evidence of Trump lies and misdeeds?
This is why transparency and objectivity are important. But Barr blew it in this regard, not once, but twice.
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@Limbo Saliana And that bothers you Limbo?
I suspect this will have the same impact that it had on Eric Holder, who was held in contempt of Congress in 2012 - that is, no impact.
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@Prof Emeritus NYC What else do you propose?
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@Prof Emeritus NYC
Worse, Trump et al. will wear it like a badge of honor.
Defiance, willful ignorance, lies, lawbreaking, and sheer stupidity only appear to move Trump's polling numbers upwards.
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@Prof Emeritus NYC By "no impact" I take it you mean "cleared of misconduct"? Because that was the disposition of the phony case against Holder, ginned up by partisans no better than Jacob Wohl or Laura Loomer.
Why won't Barr voluntarily discharge his duties as the top law enforcement agent in the country?
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Those who are innocent of wrongdoing have no need to stonewall.
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Exactly. Was it John Poindexter who tried to reassure us when he extended the NSA's spying on U.S. citizens that if you've done nothing wrong, you have nothing to fear?
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@GMooG
If you believe that Hillary had something to hide, then your comment proves Beth J's point.
I'm no longer interested in Hillary Clinton, who has no power to affect me, my life, and the future of my family. But if she did these things to conceal wrongdoing, then yeah: those who are innocent have no need to destroy or hide evidence. If that's what you think, then you're agreeing with Beth J that Trump has a lot of wrongs to hide.
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@Beth J
Yes, of course. That must be why Hillary deleted 30,000 emails, bleached her server, and destroyed her email devices. Because she had no need to stonewall.
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