Bottom line: there is no longer any pretense of presidential behavior in the White House. The time for action is now.
5
Trump is a sociopath facing prison time when he leaves office. He will do anything and everything to avoid that. He cares not about damage to the republic, decimation of our security, risk to our emissaries, or injury to our citizens.
Indeed, he relishes causing injury to the weakest among us.
What I find most interesting is the cadre of sycophants he's managed to collect. I suppose they believe, like friends of Putin, they will become oligarchs once Trump has finished destroying our republic.
5
Congress, and specifically the House, holds the purse strings. Why budgetary remedies can Pelosi use to hold the Treasury Department and the DOJ hostage until they comply with the law?
4
So, Donald dislikes scrutiny. But we're left with the recurring question: Is Donald an evil dictator, bent on unlimited executive power? Or... it is only imposter syndrome and his fear of being exposed as a fraud?
2
Where is Mitch McConnell?
3
What's at stake here is the legitimacy of divided government that provides material support to our system of government. Take away this support and the entire model collapses under the weight of a bloated executive branch. Let's come together and see the process for what it really is.
4
Why has Article 25 not been applied? Haven’t about 35,000 mental health professionals already petitioned evidence of this?
6
This column, and the obvious integrity behind it, is why I was proud to be represented for six terms by Senator Levin.
6
Trump is planning to become president for life, hence his 90 minute call with Putin and his love of Jung Un. He mentined early in his presidency we should give it a try.
4
Trump doesn't care about the Constitution. He will destroy the Constitution and America if it means he can evade the consequences of his lifetime of crime. It's like saying Tony Soprano just didn't understand the New Jersey statutes on organised crime.
11
The United States should have stayed with the Crown.
It would be another Canad now. Not a constitutionally run down banana republic.
I weep.
6
Hogwash, Mr. Levin.
This isn't about legislative function, it's about getting the dirt on the 3rd-rate criminal polluting the White House.
And I'm fine with that, honestly.
Blame Mr. McConnell. He pretty much set the new standard for "party before country" when he refused to consider Garland for the Supreme Court.
11
America is teetering.
6
Impeach him for Gods sake. It’s the only way to get the information they need . Who cares if the Senate won’t convict him. At least the information will be out there. Democrats in the house were elected by the people. Do your job already.
8
Dear Democratic Representatives,
Please stop being so timid. Please stop sticking your finger in the wind trying to gauge if you dare make a move. Have the courage of your convictions. You will be rewarded for it, I believe. You are playing with ruthless men. They will go after power relentlessly and with disregard to any norms or reasoning or sense of fairness. They will push and push and push, until you hit them with a 2X4.
25
The cowardice, lack of constitutional principle, and "establishment" inertia of Speaker Nancy Pelosi will not be treated well by history. Despite the even greater cowardice of the Republican majority of the United States Senate, a matter of constitutional necessity compels the House of Representatives to immediately initiate impeachment proceedings against the detestable madman in the White House.
7
They should hold Trump and Barr in contempt of Congress.
6
Bit by bit, your president is undermining your constitution and the power of congress on a way more and more authoritarian
7
From day one he has gotten away with everything but murder. He's a proven con artist and cheat. He doesn't respect the rules and laws of the land. His mantra is most likely "hate and divide".
What a joke to give Tiger Woods the Medal of Freedom, but then they do have a couple of things in common. They both play golf, one better than the other and of course they both cheated on their wives. And this is what we have sitting in the Oval Office.
11
So say congress finds Trump in contempt. Trump, predictably, answers 'Ha! Let's see you enforce that!' Then what? Capitol police comes to the White House, tells the Secret Service to stand down and drags the president out? Not likely. Instead I see negotiations, deadlines ignored and new deadlines set, Supreme Court rulings ignored, pundits repeating 'but -- but he's breaking the rules!'...
Checks and balances will work with this president only if they are armed with real teeth. I'm not optimistic.
28
maybe not optimistic but obviously intelligent.0
NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW.
If Barr, Mnuchin and Trump are held in contempt and do not comply they should be arrested and held until they comply.
Extraordinary events require extraordinary action.
10
Couldn’t agree more, Mr. Alderink!
2
Congress can "detain and imprison a person found in contempt until that individual complies with a congressional demand or that particular Congress comes to an end." To translate that into words Trump supporters can understand, "Lock Him Up!"
4
This Democracy is about to crash and burn. The Constitution has been shattered. It’s become a worthless document that is full of loopholes the biggest loophole is is you just say no there’s really nothing anyone can do. Now what?
4
Do not underestimate the House and its deliberate approach to these matters. Law-breakers are not deliberate, they do what they think they can get away with in a scorched earth strategy. The Dems in the House have to build a legal case which takes time and requires evidence. Trump is in a bad place, he started obstruction too early in the re-election cycle. The Dems deliberate approach will bear fruit right when Trump is trying to make his flimsy case for renewing his lease on 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. I pity the likes of Barr, Mnuchin, Miller and all the other president’s men. You too Kelly Ann. He can’t and won’t save them and they will be ruined.
8
After the Time's superb research on the Trump family's tax cheating, I understand why Republicans support him no matter what. I was appalled by the tax breaks rich people get, and even more appalled by Fred Trump's moves to avoid paying even more of his fair share.
Remember after the tax bill passed, Trump arrived at Mar a Largo and crowed to his fat cat buddies, "You're all a lot richer" ?
Trump and all the other GOP congress members are out for themselves, not the country, and it's all about money.
7
Are you kidding me? Nancy and friends have their private interests at stake for not holding Trump accountable. 80% of the Democrats take corporate bribes and in the selfish interest of party and pocketbook they will not stand up to this bully.
Nancy keeps talking about a need for a moderate candidate to defeat Trump which mean an easily corruptible candidate.
They are paid by their big donors to keep the status quo. Never mind about doing the right thing for us and democracy. And they will vilify Bernie and Elizabeth for not taking bribes and who actually have sound and sensible plans to save the American people.
Do not trust the fake progressives candidates, they are just cribbing from Bernie and Elizabeth, because they see their policies rate high in the polls . These faux progressives do not mean it. So funny the honest candidates are the ones who are smeared the most, well that is what greedy people do, you know.
2
The premise of this article is not accurate. No the president is not a routing the checks and balances between the three chances of government. Congress and the Democrats by refusing to act on their ability to exercise their over site will be the ones that are not preserving the checks and balances. So far they've shown himself to be complete cowards. Their failure to hold the executive branch in check is what is at stake here
2
The overriding question is: What are Trump, Barr and Mnuchin desperately trying to keep from public view, and why? If our 45th President has nothing to fear, why withhold any evidence?
43
Donald Trump defies reality in the loyalty that he is able to generate. For no outwardly apparent reason, there is undying loyalty from the republicans in the Senate and the House. We know that he puts people into positions because they are indebted to him or because they donated. But what about Mitch MCConnell. Did Donald Trump get Mitch McConnell's loyalty by appointing his wife, Elaine Chao, to be Transportation Secretary? Even if she has the credentials, credentials were never a factor for this president.
3
Didn't the Republicans use an outside professional (lawyer?) to question the witness in the Kavanaugh case? Why was that possible, but it should not be possible for the AG (a lawyer himself, I assume...) to be questioned by a lawyer? Frankly, this is pathetic.
On the other hand, I am sure there are plenty of lawyers on the Committee to question AG Barr, or at least they can prepare the questions for him. Either way, Barr has no reason not to testify.
5
According to responses to this writer’s opinion American’s are resolute; we want Donald Trump impeached - without any delay!
Pelosi’s instincts and calculations are wrong on this point. The Constitution and American’s are telling our Congress what we want and instead they are listening to pollsters which are also wrong on this point.
It’ should be easy for a Congressman or Congresswoman to do the right thing when everyone that voted for them is resolute when telling their Representative what they want.
My question to the readers is; are you telling your Representative what you want? It should be as easy to tell them what you want as it was to write your response to this NYT opinion. It should be easy to do the right thing when the alternative is so clearly wrong.
2
A big problem for many of us disenfranchised Democrats in red states: we write to our representatives, and they ignore our opinions and requests, or else they mansplain why they are "right" and all of their discontented constituents are "wrong." This stonewalling makes writing to our representatives an exercise in futility, and they count upon us giving up in the face of their absolute refusal to do anything requested by their Democratic constituents. We've been gerrymandered out of any representation in Congress and are completely reliant upon the actions of Democrats from other states.
3
In watching this circus we should be reminded that the reason Trump can do what he is doing is because Congress successfully insulated themselves from scrutiny and in doing so created the ability for Trump to follow the same course. Congress - when the government shuts down: is being paid. Congress can engage in insider trading without fear of retribution, try that as a citizen. Congress has its own health insurer providing the best healthcare available at no charge, does the American citizen?
Nadler and his cronies are waging a political war that we the People pay for. He and Congress are not doing the peoples business or anything else for that matter but chasing Trump to feather their own nest. This is a classic case of diversion. The Executive branch and Congress are having a field day of fun at our expense. We deserve everything we get from Trump and Congress because we (all of us) thought that a Democracy ran itself.
2
Trump is not going to peacefully step down from the Presidency because he knows that the law will be waiting for him when he is no longer protected by being president. We must impeach now before Trump becomes even more dangerous and irrational than he already is. The future of our country and the preservation of our constitution depends on it.
9
Perhaps it would be a good idea for everyone who agrees with Sen. Levin's excellent editorial to send the link to their representatives in the congress to make sure those representatives can read it -- or at least can't pretend they never heard about it.
I'm going to send the link to my representatives. It's no great investment of time and energy on my part, and the issue is of paramount importance -- if one considers the survival of our form of government important.
8
Agreed. That’s what I did.
3
If they do hold him in contempt...what then? It seems like being indicted by the House of Representatives is tantamount to being called out to a fight by someone who lives in a different country. There seems to be nothing but disrespect for the government at every turn by the current holder of this country's highest office. Just impeach him already.
12
Trump is trying to destroy our Constitutional government in order to become a powerful dictator. The Republican leadership supports him in this effort.
The House has every legal right to oversee the actions of the executive branch. Trump is claiming that he is above the law. Democrats have the obligation to the American people to demonstrate that our Constitutional democracy still functions. They need to hold Trump in contempt because he is, both in contempt of Congress and of the founding principles of this nation. Trump only understands force, and the Democrats must use the power given to them by the people.
8
The real offense against the Constitution here is by Democrats.
Oversight of the executive branch is an important Congressional power, but the Supreme Court has said it should be related to Congress’s legislative function or constitutional duty.
It can’t merely be a trawling exercise to see what nasty details they can find to score political points and discredit a President before the 2020 election.
2
Most Trump enthusiasts fail to recognize that the Mueller report even in redacted form is a roadmap for further investigations by Congressional committees as mandated by the Constitution. Only people like Trump’s lackeys Mitch McConnell and William Barr have the nerve to say case closed
11
@Joe Yoh
" ... the Supreme Court has said it should be related to Congress’s legislative function or constitutional duty."
Exactly.
So glad you understand that.
And that being so, you must also understand that the protection and preservation of the power assigned to their branch of our government by the separation of powers codified in the Constitution is profoundly related to their constitutional duty.
So ... what's the problem?
2
Dems will not even turnout to vote if Nancy doesn’t get the house to impeach Trump while in parallel immediately hold Barr & McGhann in contempt. Then sue Mnuchin.
Pelosi’s calculations are bad if she is waiting for the Memorial Day holiday to be over before moving to impeach. Democratic Representatives in Congress should govern & stop playing politics.
1
Trump is not used to sharing power, and does not like it. Laws are limits to be gotten around. He has an attorney general who shares his view of presidential power, and a senate that will not limit him.
So far, his coup has succeeded. Part of its success is that establishment supporters of the constitution are unwilling to abandon their measured rhetoric and say clearly what is happening. They see a threat, but the wolf is no longer at the door, but rather inside, and the door is losing relevance.
6
Wish former sage Senator Levin was still here. However, he has confirmed the appropriate way to pursue the instant issues.
We would be wise to contemplate his wisdom acquired over his 36 years of experience in the Senate, wherein he and his brethren dealt with some of the most difficult matters in our times. Our current issues are no different.
We need to proceed accordingly, and do what needs to be done to resolve these matters!
7
The decline of the USA under the present president is evident for all to see and it is a decline caused and facilitated by the president himself. When the leader of the country has such contempt for the law, the legally elected legislative body, and the norms of civilised society as this president has then the country is in a downward spiral that can only lead to a complete fracturing of democracy. It will take a very long time for the USA to recover from the debacle which is the Trump presidency and if he is elected for a second term it will signal the end of any moral and political authority that the USA may have once had with the outside world and the nation will be on the fast track to pariah status.
9
"Attempted coup d'état." We've heard Republicans use this term to describe what they see as investigations destined to further de-legitimize Trump's election.
Well, coup d'état is what Trump and the GOP are attempting to do now by their coordinated efforts to de-legitimize the House of Representatives, ranging from opposing every Congressional committee summons to continuous sniping at AOC and Ilhan Omar. This House represents perhaps the largest reversal of the erstwhile GOP majority in history. Denying that reality is a coup that must not be allowed to succeed.
11
We shouldn't forget the Republican efforts to suppress voting and rig elections to favor them.
3
Donald Trump's election was, as Hannah Arendt would have explained, symptomatic of a Hobbesian corporate religion reducing everything, most especially politics, to economics, marketing and consumerism. One need only glance at her classics "The Human Condition" and "The Origins of Totalitarianism" - a central theme of both being erosion of the distinction between business and government in the slide into authoritarianism - to see Trump's defilement of our civic life and institutions anticipated on virtually every page.
It is high time that the legislative branch, for Arendt the true guarantor of our political liberties, bulwark against tyranny, embrace its responsibility, assert the "rule of law" and "checks and balances," and show Mr. Trump the consequences of attempting to run the government as if it were his own private firm.
20
My comment was kind a stilted, maybe pretentiously put. Basically: The past several decades (basically coinciding with ascendancy of neoliberalism) has seen a hyper-exaltation of business culture and its perspective/norms/priorities, a trend (which also included corresponding devaluation of government and political endeavor and engagement) without which Trump's election would have been impossible.
If the Constitutional system Madison (primarily) and the other founding fathers put in place is to be preserved and maintain any credibility, their principles of "rule of law" and "checks and balances" must be honored and rigorously applied in this case. That Constitutional perspective depends fundamentally on the difference between government and business/commercial enterprise and in how authority and power operate in these distinct spheres. Accordingly, if Trump is allowed to run the Executive branch as if it were his own private business operation, with no accountability, the whole system spirals toward tyranny. We must not be complicit in such a decline. Now is the time to act, for we're likely approaching a point of no return. We will not be able to salvage our institutions if they deteriorate past a certain point.
5
Thank you for this very logical and informed argument. I saw your name and there was no question that this would be my evening reading.
The President does not appear to be a student of our Constitutional system and also does not appear to understand the history of this system. He is very naive in his behavior and does not appear to have an informed scholar to coach him on the role of Congress in matters concerning violation of law and the overriding principle that no person in the United States is above the law, even the President, and the way this is assured is the Constitution which all members including his office is under oath to uphold and defend.
Should the Congress, and members of his own party, fail to inform him that the evidence contained in the Mueller investigation strongly supports that he has acted to obstruct justice in several of his responses during the history of the investigation of activities by a foreign government in the 2016 Election. There appears also to be evidence that the President was involved directly in violations of our campaign finance laws.
So, I believe that members of the Congress from his own party should inform him that they will not become complicit in the charges of obstruction and take the time to educate him on the realities of his position and urge him to admit his transgressions and let history take its course.
The Constitution Trumps the Art of the Deal.
10
I supported Senator Levin during my many years living in Michigan. I admire him even more now that I live in Colorado and am stuck with Cory Gardner. Thank you, Senator Levin, for sharing the exceptionally useful information in this article.
14
Democrats must make sure that Trump is required to follow the law that any other president would be held to. I can’t imagine Republicans allowing Clinton or Obama to get away with any of this.
14
@Jazz Paw They wouldn't and they wouldn't begin to be stopped by whatever the heck seems to holding the Dems up. I can understand hesitating on impeachment, but other than that they need to assert their rights and their powers forcefully. Then decide on impeachment.
1
We are witnessing an attempted and possibly successful coup occurring, slow enough that it may not look like one, which is all the more dangerous.
We have multiple laws broken, lying all around, secret contact with a foreign power by the president's agents,( at the very least), dark money, voter suppression only in Democrat areas, refusal to release findings, funding threats to states that resist, cronyism, graft, for starters, and the Senate supporting all of this.
Mueller only knows what else. And then there's climate change.
This is a greater threat than the Civil War - then, at least the north had a decent, strong, moral leader and the resources to survive as a nation, even a smaller nation, if the south successfully seceded.
And then there's climate change.
I am not confident that democracy will survive, when we are only halfway through this nightmare.
21
@Dr. M Not to mention a president who is already "joking" that he deserves an extra two years. Watch that joke turn into a rallying cry at some point.
3
Trump knows the Senate will never remove him, and his Justice Dept. will simply refuse to enforce these subpoenas.
We can hope the courts will order the DOJ and/or local law enforcement to enforce, but will they? What if the Chief Executive simply refuses to enforce these particular contempt citations? In a normal universe he would be impeached and removed, but not here. Trump is gambling that there really is no authority that can or will force him to comply - and he may be right.
7
Trump must be held in contempt; he has been cheating on the constitution and the rule of law, and on all of us, in the open. What more proof do we need?
9
The separation of Congress from its powers is complete.
3
trump clearly holds the Constitution in contempt.
9
Show some initiative, or you will lose. And ee have already lost.
"statutory" contempt and "inherent" contempt. I know what the terms mean, but a lot of people don't. The article should have explained them.
4
G'day my American cousins.
Just in case you haven't quite noticed there's a king, in everything but name, in control of your democracy. Perhaps it's time for some civil disobedience of your own, to counter his own disobedience of the Constitution? Needless to say, king trump is being helped along by key figures in government who should also be taken to task - people like McConnell and Graham to name a few.
Best of luck to you.
37
It looks like we are being governed by a crime boss who has lived a life of pretense as NYT financial data review of Trump's finances for 10 years where he lost 1.17 billion the most of any single taxpayer in the country. Something looks wrong here that this man can live like a prince lose a billion and pay no taxes. Trump installed two top officials at IRS on a rush basis that McCOnnell did for his partner in crime Don the Con. No wonder Trump is desperate to hide his latest tax returns the curtain is being pulled back and our KINg of Debt who may leave the United States bankrupt with his tax cuts and spending bills. The WIZ is a fraud the ultimate con artist, no wonder he lies 10,000 times it's his nature.
23
I truly wish I had enough faith in both the people and the political institutions of the US that I could be certain the Trump neo-fascist regime was temporary. I fear I do not have that faith in either.
The separation of powers is being surrendered by a timid and fearful House of Representatives and an arrogant and corrupt Senate. The presidency is now an imperial office.
And today it was announced by the Gallup organization that Trump's approval is at 46%.
Letting that figure truly sink in is a disheartening experience.
Yet all I read is that Trump is panicking, Trump is fearful, Trump is on his last legs.
Wishful thinking I fear.
It looks more to this Canadian like the end of the republic and the beginning of the tyranny. Much as it probably did in the time of Augustus.
17
@Dana
Three dire assessments from north of the border in the last handful of comments. Memories of good times in Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal are refreshing.
Rome’s evolving economy led to growing inequality. The Senate’s power crumbled. Politicians armed their supporters. Years of fear and chaos ushered in Augustus.
Oh, Canada?
2
It is a mistake for people to think that Trump is the sole source and perpetrator of the corruption in the White House today. In fact, he's just a bit player, just the public face of a movement to push an agenda that, as Grover Norquist wrote, only requires a president capable of holding a pen. Wm. Barr was not hypnotized by Trump, as James Comey suggested in a recent essay. He came of his own free will, with a mandate and a mission- not only to catch and kill the Mueller report, but to establish legal precedent that would enable future Republican presidents to carry out the right wing agenda without accountability or oversight by Congress. Barr is part of a large movement, intact and festering since the days of Watergate and the Iran/Contra scandal, to establish the presidency as a monarchy.
It's time to put the attention, and blame, where it belongs- those who want to shrink not just the US government, but the Constitution itself, down to a size that it can be drowned in a bathtub.
And to stop believing that Christian piety will somehow protect against the widespread ignorance that enables this evil to succeed. A large segment of the population believe that Trump is not just a great president, but an instrument in the hands of God, and no evidence will convince them otherwise. They stop believing their "lying eyes" years ago.
22
Carl Levin and many others don't like Trump's actions. They are subverting the constitution. We hear many complaints. There is mass agreement on this. A Prudent legal system recognizes that aggrieved parties may not always play by the rules. The law should be designed to deter and prevent people from subverting the rules and "eroding the constitution". Rather than complain about Trump which feels good but does no good, it would be much better to hear how the the legal system needs to be reformed and given teeth so that this deterrence is manifest. Perhaps Congress can appropriate monies the private prison system to jail Congressional offenders. This may not be the best solution if so, it would be good to hear a better proposal.
4
The Democratic House will not hold Trump in contempt because their corporate donors have signaled that they do not want that. Please, stop thinking that the Democratic House will do anything significant to hold trump accountable. The leadership receives too much money from these corporate donors and will not act unless directed to. It's sad to see, but this is what the Democrats have become under the fossilized and bought leadership.
2
Holding him in contempt of Congress is only the first step that needs to be taken. Bring on the Articles of Impeachment, and fast.
11
Senator Levin, your warning is serious. However, we are living in a moment that there are more that one threat against our Constitution.
We are living in a collapse of our institutions and the both Republicans and Democrats are responsible of this situation.
1
Please no false equivalence. The union and the confederate states were not equally responsible for the civil war.
14
Trump is playing with the voters, the Constitution, the country and the GOP. He loves to call Putin and brag about it and his innocuous conversations, knowing how much it upsets Democrats. The Constitution is pretty battered right now. All respect between the houses and the executive branch is gone. Congress has happily ceded war and treaty powers to the President over the years. In a Constitutional world, Trump could not strike down treaties Congress has approved. In a Constitutional world, neither party would be able to or want to restrict the vote. In a Constitutional world, Trump would not be able to deny Russian interference or mock the FBI or other law enforcement officials who were looking for the truth. In a Constitutional world, Trump and his cronies would not have many secret meetings with the Russians or try to set up back channels or give Russians voter information and who knows what else. Of course he is going to fight contempt obstruction charges as long as he can, that’s what criminals do. It’s very, very sad.
34
@Barbara Snider, In a constitutional world this would be a NYT pick.
7
The West Wing, Season 1, Episode 16, 20 Hours in LA
There is a scene where a political operative Al Kiefer is trying to persuade President Bartlet that he should lead the charge on a law against flag burning.
After Kiefer's smarmy pitch Director of Communications Toby Ziegler chuckles "I just figured out who you are."
Kiefer says to the others in the room "He's going to say Satan."
To which Ziegler replies "No. You're the guy who goes to the 7-11 to get Satan a pack of cigarettes."
Perfect description of the McConnell and the GOP.
29
Most of America hold Trump in contempt. Why not congress ?
The do work for us.
13
So can a turkey neck republican businessman upset the foremost democracy in the world? Can a rube enthrall the big tent performers to follow his lead?
6
Contempt?!?!??!
He does not CARE.
Unless The U.S. House of Representatives has an army, or a durable, enforceable means of making "trump" comply with law then he is not going to care.
So he does not care.
8
@Matthew
The House Democrats are a contemptible lot, so why should he?
Whether Trump understands the Constitution and the limits of his job is beside the point. He simply does not care. Congress will have to make him care by unloading their fiercest weapons, because it will be important for every succeeding president to care. Today I wrote my congressman, and I recommend everyone else do the same.
9
Yes, you have it right. Thank you.
The headline on the other story running right now has it all wrong--the "clash" is not threatening the Constitutional order. This kind of twisting is what got Trump elected, so stop it.
The President and his men not following the law is what is creating the clash. To be honest, that headline should have read:
President threatens Constitutional order, Congress Prepares Response.
I am so sick of seeing partisan divide in headlines. What, why, when and how is much more important and interesting in these stories than who. I would like to see more responsibility shown by the editors.
So, I agree with this opinion, but would be stronger about it. Congress must act to save our democracy from this mad man. Democrats must be forceful to stop this erosion, because the GOP seem happy with Putin's poison pill in the White House.
10
@Carl Lee
"I am so sick of seeing partisan divide in headlines."
I am too, but it's not just partisan divide. It's not a matter of difference of opinion. Honest GOP leaders of conscience were primaried out years ago. Those who remain are those who proved themselves willing to compromise to push the agenda of the 1%. They aren't representatives; they are de facto employees.
A big part of the problem is a public unable to realize that one of the parties is not operating in good faith.
2
Carl Levine in the senate for 26 years?
Did he vote for the fake Iraq war?
How much is his pension ? Life time medical for him and his family,
What did he accomplish in 26 years?
Levin voted against the Iraq war. A simple google search...
6
Trump is a contemptible individual and needs to be called to account. If we don’t hold him accountable our way of life/government is dead and a civil war is inevitable. However, the war will not be defined by States’ boundaries but will be neighbor against neighbor. The winner will be defined as the last person standing. Perhaps it’s time for God to reboot the earth this time without humans.
5
I am curious to know who would be asked to detain the principal legal officer of the United States? The FBI work for him. The Secret Service work for the Treasury - and Mnuchin would not play along. I mean: Congress, how many divisions do they have ... except for voting?
2
By normal societal mores Trump is indeed contemptuous.
Whether he is held in contempt by Congress, or not, is an entirely different matter.
3
Would dozens of super-profitable Fortune 500 companies ever be allowed to pay zero federal income tax? Oh, never mind.
6
If Congress has two paths to take to hold Trump in contempt, one through a US attorney under the direction of the Department of Justice, and one through Congress's inherent power, the choice is clear. Congress should hold Trump in contempt through its inherent power. It may be rusty but it might be better than going through the DOJ headed by AG Barr who is himself guilty of stonewalling Congress, and behaves more like Trump's personal attorney than one committed to American justice.
5
When he was inaugurated he swore to: "...faithfully execute the office of president of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." He is defying the Constitution and reneging on his solemn oath. He MUST be held in contempt.
18
How much longer are the people going to have to wait for the dithering fools in Congress to their jobs?
Perhaps it’s time that the people stepped up and took care of the problem.
This government, this country is ours, remember? By the people, for the people, and of the people.
Trump is a traitor. His hand picked flunkies are thieves and con-men. He’s selling the country to the Russians and anyone else that has enough money to line his pockets.
The Vice President is a religious wack job and has mommy issues.
Is Donald Trump really the person we want leading this country?
Only fools, idiots, stupid deplorables and sick republicans would want this clown in the White House. Why?
It’s time we reclaimed our country from the traitors, bigots and malcontents,
21
In order for our system of government to truly work with the proper checks and balances that the founding fathers hoped would occur, Donald Trump must be impeached. At this point it does not matter whether he would be convicted and removed from office by the Senate which of course will not likely happen . But if the House does not impeach Donald Trump it will send a message that his actions are not serious enough to be condemned . Holding the president in contempt will only be useful if it leads to the impeachment process .
12
Congress must act now, clearly and decisively. This tyrant's reelection campaign is literally coordinating plans for a massive increase in foreign interference and hacking of election 2020. How else to guarantee a landslide victory which will be the only kind that will satisfy the egomaniac?
Enough with the attempts to negotiate with an amoral wannabe dictator. Congress must be fearless and stop this criminal and his lawless cohorts before it's too late. The U.S. simply cannot bear another 4 years of this.
6
Wake up, Democrats! If taking on Trump is like a game of dodgeball, you've been lobbing beach balls at him while he hurls hand grenades at you.
He has been treating you with utter contempt from day one, disdaining even the pretense of civility. His stonewalling of all Congressional oversight surely merits a formal censure sooner rather than later. Hold all of Trump's lackeys in contempt until they agree to comply with your legitimate requests.
For once, try fighting back as hard against him as he fights against you.
31
Senator Levin, your commentary today is exactly what is missing from current Senators in Washington today and yes I also include Democrats whom have more or less been quite.
All forty eight should be screaming from the rooftops not tweeting. Are we doomed?
5
I've always wondered about those times in history when great nations and great civilizations crumbled. What was it that led to all these easily foreseeable consequences. The answer is cowardice. A man comes in and cowers a convention, then cowers a political party, making up a third of the population, then, like dominoes, the judiciary, the justice dept. and the laws themselves all fall down. The only thing left in opposition to the destruction of the country I grew up in is the Democratic Party. If they don't stand up, we can shut this thing down right now. There may have been times, in the past when timidity was called for. This ain't one of them. Make him understand the power of the law or he will become more powerful than it. And history will record that not a single shot was fired, but we lost because the country was filled with cowards.
36
@Rick Gage: Your comment reminds me CS Lewis's statement that courage is the form every virtue takes on at its highest testing point. A charity, a fairness, an honesty that folds under pressure is a failed virtue. When the trial comes, real virtue is like Riley C. Howell charging at the gunman during the school shooting in Charlotte, NC. It's doing the right thing regardless of personal safety or political practicality.
Congress has a brief moment to act. To postpone accountability for this lawless president until 2020 is acceding to his plea to the Kremlin to attack the US elections again and keep him in power, so he can avoid prosecution for his crimes.
Congress' window of opportunity will not last forever.
6
@Lee Christensen, That's the first thing I've ever agreed with coming out of Salt Lake City.
4
Trump's "presidency" is a study in what it is like to have a mentally ill person in one's family—one who cannot be healed, and one who can ruin the rest of the family's lives at any moment. The Republican Party is a sham, and Trump is unredeemable and incapable of healing. How much longer do we have to keep putting up with the clouds of nonsense, inadequacies, and lies? Why is he continually given a pass on the basics of our civilization? What is everyone so scared of? The emperor has no clothes!
16
Contempt is what I have for Congress. The GOP is complicit in Trump's illegal actions, and the Dems are gutless.
6
You nailed it. vote in 2020
2
@gratis
"Contempt is what I have for Congress. The GOP is complicit in Trump's illegal actions, and the Dems are gutless."
Nonsense. Pelosi is a master. She is doing what the speaker can and should do, and she is doing it soberly and deliberately. The trouble is, you've forgotten what veracity, decency, competence and public service look like.
Your cynicism is Trump's stock in trade. Only he benefits when we mistakenly fall for the lie that everybody else is just as bad as Trump and his servile Republicans.
6
@Robert
Totally disagree. Pelosi is a legislator, but has no taste for any kind of fight Pelosi should have investigated the Bush Middle East wars and the Financial Crisis, but did not. She has more than enough evidence in the Muller report for some serious investigations, which we are not gong to get.
There have been numerous requests by congress for information from the executive that they have fought in modern times. Of course, because it serves neither sides purpose to actually have a decision made(and because of an overriding fear that their side may lose), it has never been pushed to a point that the courts have had to make a decision. Rather, it has far better use as a political card that can be played for elective advantages, but even better, for raising money by the truckload.
One needs to go no further into the past than the last president's term to find the answer to headline's question: "will he be held in contempt?". Yeah, just like Holder was. And then? Nothing, of course.
Only the congress thinks that they have some unlimited ability to demand whatever interests them from the executive.
Of course, some make the point that there have been times when congress won the legal fight for getting their way. But both (Nixon and Clinton) were by engaging in relevant judicial proceedings; one an investigation into whether to impeach, the other an actual impeachment proceeding.
1
Will they hold him in contempt, is that your question? Have you not been paying attention?
Donny Trump is playing lets run out the clock and it's companion game in criminality: Make me. Trump can see, and his history is a guide, that he won't do anything adverse to his position unless he is forced to. He would rather do nothing, then sue, then let the clock do it's best to slow everything down til he wears down the opposition.
And I fear that the Dems don't have the fortitude or the playbook to make the case against him. He will win by default.
A terrible stain on the republic, both the spineless Democrats and the criminal Trump.
4
@Bob: It’s the Republicans who are spineless, not the Democrats in the House.
2
@Anna The Dems have been watching this train wreck of a man for more than 2 years; one would think that they would have a game plan or some course of action. The Republican will do nothing, we know that. But what have the Dems done so far? The election is approaching.
@Bob: The Democrats have done what they could, with the help of some Republicans prevented the overturning of the ACA for instance, worked with Republicans on immigration bills that Trump promptly refused to sign after he'd promised to, held Kavanaugh's feet to the fire, etc., but they simply did not have the votes in House and Senate to do more. So, my question: What could they have done more than they already did? Shoot Trump in 5th Avenue?
Deep State only too willing to drag out completion of the Mueller investigation till it could be reported back to – at least the prospect of – a Democrat-controlled House...
By that simple logic, Big Guy should just drag things out till 11/4/2020...
Senate’s going to stay solidly GOP – if anything, they may pick up a couple of seats...
And no better campaign theme Trump and the GOP could devise for taking a flyer on what they’d probably written off – taking back the House in 2020...
There’s this inchoate notion that the population is going to be galvanized to vote by the prospect of turning scoundrels out of office, so good people can take their place...
But all we’ve seen so far is one idiot multi-trillion dollar give-away scheme after another...
i.e. the sort of governance we had for four terms prior to Trump...
Even the most avowed socialist among the lot sees running as a personal gravy train to sell books or cop private jet hops...
And – speaking of contempt – a chance to show off clever mic drop riposte and repartee with a press corps in the tank for them...
How about that Obama at the 2011 WHCD...
Every once in a while, I replay the clip – to make sure it actually happened...
If had only heard it second-hand, wouldn’t have believed he had the arrogance and gall to say what he actually did...
The irony, of course, after such a grand-scale gaffe – sending Biden to do damage control...
Though, since GOP and China are his besties – should be a cakewalk...
The consensus is clear.
Congress must DO SOMETHING to STOP this unbelievable assault on democracy.
Can the necessary action be more clear?
Are the so-called representatives of the people listening? Are they hearing? Are they ready, willing and able to do the RIGHT THING?
5
Trump is promising to put a 25% tariff on imported goods from China. The media and the Democrats screams unfair, Wall Street is losing, the Europeans are laughing at us and this is bad for trade.
Who want's to to buy American cars? The Chinese do. GM sells 70% of the cars they build in China. They like Buick's. Guess where they're built? That's right in China. They invested billions building the most modern plants there while they shuts them down here. If GM starts shipping from China could they turn a profit with a 25% tariff? Will they close down plants and fire workers here when they do? Where's Biden? What's his opinion on this?
Sorry I can't get excited over collusion, obstruction, executive privilege or whatever I'm told to think. I get excited over jobs. Wait, I didn't know. A corporations first obligation is too the shareholder. Thanks for that education.
He’s held this country, and it’s laws, in contempt since he took office (and before). He should be arrested for contempt along with all those following his direction in refusals. He DOES NOT have the right to defy our constitution.
7
Are the Democrats and the left so lame that they don't see the absurdity of their pursuit? How on earth do they think this is playing well with the American electorate? The more these rogue investigations go on the worse it is for Chuck and Nancy. What a state of affairs!!! But please....don't stop on my behalf! Haha!
"It may be rusty, and it’s not something anyone welcomes, but President Trump’s extreme responses to legitimate congressional requests may very well demand strong measures by Congress. To protect its constitutional authority and carry out its constitutional responsibility to the American people, it should not hesitate to use its inherent contempt power if needed."
This cautious and tepid conclusion by former Senator Levin fully explains the rationale for Trump's brazen and legally indefensible defiance of routine Congressional subpoenas. Despite endless ritual proclamations of outrage, most Congressional Democrats have no real stomach for the stress and perceived political risk of initiating an impeachment proceeding. Contempt citations are simply a symbolic annoyance; to the extent they would have any effect at all, they merely underscore the impotence of Congress. And since court battles over subpoenas likely would not be resolved before the 2020 election, that offers a fruitless strategy as well.
Any refusal to obey a valid subpoena on patently frivolous grounds can and should be seen as a further act of obstruction of justice. Congress should issue all its subpoenas, setting a reasonable and generous deadline for their collective compliance -- with the understanding that once the deadline passes a bill of impeachment will be promptly brought.
We have reached the point where nothing more is to be gained from indulging an endless litany of futile whining and harping.
6
He’s not denying Congress; he’s trolling Democrats. And I for one love watching him do it.
With enemies like Congress and the media, and with the economy booming, Trump should be in great shape.
The president is riding roughshod over the House aided and abetted by his corrupt AG and majority party allies in the Senate.
When the history of this era is written--assuming it is written at all, given the dictatorial behavior of this Administration--scholars will marvel at how willing the American people and most of the Republican Party were to hand over the reins of government to this unethical man.
What he's doing now is a wholesale takeover of this nation's Constitution, erasing the traditional safeguards of checks and balances.
How this ends up depends entirely on how hard House Democrats are willing to fight Trump's defiance by using every legal tool in their toolkit.
12
I call on the House, my Congress people, and Speaker Pelosi to exercise, as expeditiously as possible, every legal avenue of redress, however rusty or little used, including the inherent contempt power of imprisonment, if that is what it takes to protect our democracy from the present administration.
Mr. Barr's activities, record, and published opinions have given us little reason to expect him to make a genuine effort to abide by the tradition of accommodation with Congress, as described here by Senator Levin. On the other hand, I believe Barr will undertake insincere efforts and misleading maneuvers in order to delay or halt Congressional efforts.
What in the world are these people thinking? Why are they willing to inflict this kind of harm to our country, in order to protect a man like Trump? Why have the Senate Republicans broken their oath and promise to protect and defend the Constitution?
Do they all agree with Mr. Graham who has said that the party's fortunes are now permanently connected to the prospects of Trump? Trump is a racist, a liar, a grifter, a crook and probably a traitor. Is that who the Republicans are now?
As Levin writes here, Trump is attacking the constitutional rights of Congress. He is threatening the checks and balances that are the foundation of our democracy. The Supreme Court has explicitly concluded that Congress has broad power to enforce its demands.
6
Whatever Congress decides, the majority of Americans already hold Trump in “contempt”, along with Mitch McConnell and many other duplicitous and compromised GOP Senators and Cabinet members.
6
While we're at it, can we officially hold this administration beneath contempt?
13
The US has never had a complete and total criminal and psychopath as a president. He cares nothing for the Constitution or this country for that matter. He cares only about money, prestige, winning (the appearance of winning is ok) and adoration. What the House is doing right now is appropriate and necessary. It will also lead to a massive constitutional crisis and a mental breakdown for Trump. There better be contingency plans with officials who can stop Trump when he decides to go Scarface on the country.
6
How many times do we have to hear the same song? Congress cannot continue to ignore flagrant and repeated defiance by the Executive branch. Have we all decided to trash the Constitution?
3
Trump is a consummate loser. He is know to have cheated on all of his wives. He has lost huge amounts of his father's inheritance. He abounds in bankruptcies and lawsuits. He is profoundly ignorant on almost all things of note. He has proven himself to be a pathological liar - and has publicly lied over 10,000 times just since becoming president.
How odes this charlatan, this con man, make it through the day? How does he have the backing of almost 40% of the American voters? How sad for the USA.
9
People died for this country, and many of they took oaths to defend and protect the Constitution, as did the president. Every day he is in office is an affront to their memories.
25
Can someone please name one positive thing Donald Trump stands for?
Sure, we know he's a liar. A racist. A two-timer. A business failure. A hypocrite. An ego-maniac. A loud mouth know-nothing-know-it-all. An international embarrassment. A Russian apologist. A lover of ruthlessly violent dictators. A draft dodger. A tax cheat. A rumor monger. An inciter of violence. A man with a below average IQ who "thinks" he's a genius. A "negotiator" who couldn't negotiate his way out of a paper bag unless he could sue it first. A daddy's-made-man. An arrogant fool. A back-stabbing, self-serving dishonorable lowlife. We know all this for a fact.
So, can someone, anyone, please explain to me what the appeal is of this moral degenerate? What is the selling point? Other then the fact that he appeals to other moral degenerates.
Is it really just "tax cuts for the wealthy" and nothing more?
I personally think Trump won because the right thought he would enrage the left. Nothing more. Nothing less. He makes people incredibly angry. That's the selling point. And if it is, he's certainly succeeded because Donald Trump is everything I hate. He is every possible character flaw and moral failure I can think of wrapped into one.
And he's running this country into the ground - solely for his own benefit.
I'm not sure what his supporters really see in this man. But I am 100% certain of the fact that he would sell them all down the river for a $1.17 and some stamps.
7
You couldn’t have stated my thoughts any better. This man is not redeemable or worthy of anything other than our disgust.
2
Trump gave Mueller unrestricted access to all off his staff and campaign records. He didn't have to.
Congress is allowed to see specific tax returns only for legislative purpose..not fishing for dirt motivations. The IRS checks returns such as Trumps carefully and has likely done extensive audits. Enough is enough.
Our government, with its checks and balances, has always relied on an agreement by those in its various branches, rather than compulsion, to uphold the Constitution's tenets and the laws of the land. Mnuchin's refusal to comply with Congress is one example of an individual not abiding by that agreement. There are very few means to actually make him comply. Likewise with Barr. The further these individuals, and Trump himself, refuse the Constitutionally-granted oversight of Congress, the more we teeter towards an upending of our Constitution and the implementation of dictatorship.
6
Everyone around trump 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. Barr in his non denial denial, basically admits trump asked him to look into investigation any anyone he deems an enemy - from HRC to Sat. Nt. Live, to the press. When trump suggests 2nd Amendment "solutions", "lock her/them/him up", and his request is followed as an order - what then?
Does anyone really think this out of the realm of possibility? That's where we're headed if those that can, don't bring the hammer down on an out of control tyrant and his equally
corrupt henchmen.
5
May the leaks continue...
6
You're making the erroneous assumption that Trump even understands the Constitution and the concept of separation of powers.
He doesn't.
5
All of this is a smokescreen to keep the public distracted from the fact that Congress is not doing its job. For example; Medicare can not compete prescription drug prices under current federal law. This has led to Americans paying much more for drugs than in other countries such as Canada England Germany France and Israel. It is also helping drug companies drain the Medicare Trust Fund. Congress has had bills filed to address this problem but has failed to act.
I wonder if the Members of Congress behind the endless hissy fit over the Russia Investigation are doing it to create a distraction to protect their contributors profits from congressional action.
Deflection. This is no smokescreen. It is our democracy at stake.
4
Prescription drug coverage is important, but a foreign power interfering in our democratic process is far more important. It is a threat, not to our health but existence.
2
Who knows, maybe Mitch will be proven right?
With him declaring “It’s over” could be equal to the phrase “beware the Ides of March.”
It remains to be seen as to what is truly about to be over, without a calibrated crystal ball.
According to tRump-theory, he can stop the will of Congress and the wheels of Justice at the same time by holding up the palm of his hand in the air. What $45* must fear the most is seeing his lackeys holding up their palms in the air and speaking under oath before Congress or the courts.
3
Needless to say, Mitch McConnell is despicable for encouraging his Republican Senate to act as if Trump is being "harassed" by his Democratic colleagues who are conducting the oversight that Republicans failed to do for two years while Trump thumped his nose at the Constitution. The Democratic House must do whatever it takes to hold this Administration to account. Subpoena them all. Arrest them all if necessary. It is imperative that they don't get away with this. Meanwhile, the Democrats must step up the message so that citizens understand clearly that this situation is a national emergency. That is a critical part of this - Democrats must talk nonstop about how outrageous and dangerous this unfolding situation is to our democracy.
7
Congress needs to finally stop bickering and legislate. That’s why I pay their salary.
The Trump investigation is finally OVER. Let’s spend the next two years getting along.
And for you journalists still suffering from the Trump election, PLEASE, stop poisoning the waters.
3
Maybe most Americans including most of the MAGA-hatted morons in Trump's base have not read the Mueller report, but more than 700 former federal prosecutors have. And since they found enough evidence to warrant prosecution for obstruction of justice, maybe it's time for the House to stop tippy toeing around the "I" word and launch impeachment proceedings. As for McConnell and his coterie of Trump protectors in the Senate, they too should be prosecuted for adding to Putin's cast of useful idiots in D.C.
18
Trump complains about the two stolen years of his presidency. If anything, those first two years were a gift to him, with both the House and the Senate dominated by Republicans.
It was a wasted two years for those who wanted to hold him accountable, but were stymied by the complicit Republicans at every turn.
Now that there is some challenge to Trump, we have a looming national election ahead and the stall tactics have begun.
If NYS can get his state returns released that would be a good first step, Steve Mnuchin be damned.
6
Separation of powers is the fundamental basis of the Constitution of the US. The Declaration of Independence stated most clearly that the usurpation of total power by King George was utterly unacceptable. The Constitution forged that, and other points, into a document which intended to guarantee that no single person or group could ever impose his singular will on the American People.
Donald Trump and his minority of acolytes have decided to ignore both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution to make Trump, in many regards, a dictator.
Americans cannot allow Trump to establish authoritarian protocols to become commonplace.
People are tired, they have heard from Billy Barr's final word and they listen to Trump telling them that it is over and just needs to go away.
But Americans didn't read the part where Mueller said no case could be made for conspiracy with Russia in part because people from Trump's inner circle refused to testify. They didn't read the part where Mueller made a case for multiple cases of obstruction and pointed out that Trump could be impeached by Congress or indicted by courts after he left office. Moreover, there are a multitude of cases, already in the courts involving emoluments, and serious conflicts of interest, which were topics not covered my the Mueller investigation.
Do we want a Dictatorship like Germany in WWII or do we want a Democracy. People are tired, but they will be afraid when the country becomes a dictatorship.
14
Mitch McConnell, if you are listening: Fighting off congress, silencing witnesses, suing to keep bank records secret, are the actions of crime lord, and you will always be remembered for shielding your criminal president.
Voted out of office he is vulnerable to prosecution.
In office he is out of the reach of the SDNY, and the NYAG.
Vote him out.
13
The House of Representatives has powers that it should be using right now - Censure, articles of impeachment. By going slow, with an eye on polling, it is shirking its constitutional duty, in my view.
6
If CNN is to be believed, Trump has gotten the highest approval rating thus far in his so-called presidency. It would seem that the more dictatorial he becomes, the more his popularity rises.
Now, when he declares Martial Law, it is good to know that the Democrats in Congress will...hold another press conference.
It’s time Americans embrace authoritarianism. Maybe they might like it. Might even enjoy it. And then cherish it.
With Trump getting away with nepotism, corruption, and treason, democracy is not for Americans.
5
Perhaps Congress will not hold Trump in contempt, but I do.
29
Congress needs to stop dithering and issue contempt citations ~ for Barr, Mnuchin, and McGhan. if necessary. I don't care that this president's name is Trump or that he is a Republican. If Obama, Clinton, or an independent were to stonewall Congress the way that Trump is, and commit the acts as outlined in the Mueller Report, I would feel the same way.
We have a Constitution and three co-equal branches of government. It is long past time for Republicans to start acting like Americans and not simply partisan hacks. Our democracy is genuinely at stake.
As for the Democrats and what I perceive as dithering, how many more "chances" are you going to give these people? It's like a parent telling a recalcitrant child, "Okay, if you don't do what I tell you to do by next Wednesday, boy, are you going to get it!" No teeth to the threat, and the child not only ignores you but continues being a brat.
Congress has a duty to uphold the Constitution. Start doing your jobs, folks ~ and stop testing the waters for the 2020 election!
21
In the absence of a two year witch hunt, complete with report, this is all very true. I’ve heard of beating dead horses but never dead witches. Democrats show such imagination.
3
Isn't it too bad we can't do a citizen's arrest of Trump?
5
Plainly you can take the Senator out of Washington but you can never take the hot air out of an ex-Senator.
Listen to what his pomposity has to say -- refusing to turn over Trump's tax records threatens "the checks and balances that are the cornerstone of our democracy."
OK, Sen. Levin isn't the first pol to claim that the Republic will implode if he doesn't get what he wants. But that doesn't mean we should let him get away with it.
Why not?
1. Don't think the man on the Staten Island ferry doesn't see what Levin is up to. The subpoena for Trump's tax records is part of the Democrats' Ahab-like obsession with harpooning the great Orange Whale. It is a fishing expedition to try to dig up dirt on Trump. When our politics is driven by Democrats' obsession with getting even, we the people are the losers.
2. Talking about democracy, who won the 2016 presidential election without disclosing his tax returns? The Democrats lost the election and they lost the argument -- but they are still demanding a do-over.
3. If the Democrats were sincere, they would limit their demand to Trump's tax returns while he has been in office. No they are demanding the tax returns of a private citizen.
4. The far greater threat to our Constitution comes from the Democrats' abuse of their Congressional oversight powers to prosecute their endless feud with Trump. The Courts should give this behavior a sound spanking, not enshrine this sort of petty vicious persecution in our legal precedents.
2
It's statute. The statute was enacted after another great scandal and is designed to allow Congress to look for financial crimes. That's the end if the legal argument: Ways and means has a legitimate question about Trump's financial doings. It's always political: so what.
4
@ben
I think we agree about the facts, but we disagree about the morality of using the law for such a low purpose.
I hope the courts won't give that their imprimatur.
Donald Trump loves the world's despots, clearly preferring despotism to the niceties of democracy, which he attacks on a regular basis. Just imagine if any previous president had spoken of his "love" for the murderous dictator Kim Jong Un. Trump is a sleazy, lying, corrupt con man. His approval rating, if not for the extreme gullibility of Republican voters, would be zero.
7
If the President is found to be in contempt of Congress, can the President pardon himself? Contempt of Congress is defined as a criminal offense against the Unites States.
However, I also just learned that the Office of Legal Counsel has asserted that the President of the United States is protected from contempt by executive privilege. So again, seems like the powers bestowed upon the US President enables that office holder to obstruct and behave as if he/she is above the law, with the full support of the current AG and the Justice Department overseen by the AG. Congress has almost no recourse except impeachment and conviction. We know the later is highly unlikely in this case due to continued Republican support in the Senate.
Nevertheless, no meaningful hearings in Congress concerning the actions of this President will happen if impeachment is not pursued. Only impeachment hearings will shatter the executive privilege shield - the defense being used by this White House and the President to prevent meaningful oversight by Congress.
2
The erosion is already well underway. The Republican party lives in abject fear of Donald Trump. The House of Representatives must stand up to him and his cabal. My ultimate concern here is that Donald Trump will not agree to anything that he does not want to do and to have a President with this type of mindset is truly a clear and present danger to the United States.
5
Mueller’s report is not “case closed,” as McConnell said; to the contrary, by declining to indict Trump for the sole reason that Trump is a sitting President, Mueller is saying it is time to “open the case for impeachment.”
The Senate is afraid to convict, because of Trump’s base.
And the House is reluctant to impeach, because the Senate would not convict.
And Mueller did not indict, saying that only Congress can hold the President accountable.
Whether the Congress removes Trump from office or not, Americans have a right to know — everything.
Mueller has already proven, beyond reasonable doubt, that Trump obstructed justice.
Now Congress, specifically the House, must use the Mueller report, not merely to impeach Trump for his proven criminal and impeachable obstruction, but, more important, to break through the obstruction and investigate further whether Trump’s conspiracy with Russia, which is already constitutionally impeachable based on the facts at hand, is also criminal conspiracy.
Did the President commit treason? There is sufficient evidence, even with the obstruction, that he actually did — and using the authority of Congress to keep investigating, to get on the other side of Trump’s wall of obstruction, to establish that this was criminal treason, is essential.
Don’t let Trump keep America hostage with the small leverage he has with his base over the Senate. The rest of America is much bigger than Trump’s base.
America wants the truth, all of it.
11
Congress, apparently, can’t do their job. Their more interested in getting re-elected . Perhaps it’s time, that the people stepped up and solved the problem.
We kicked the British out. Maybe it’s time we kicked the Trump trash and the Russians out, too.
I want my country back!
7
Congress should hold Trump in contempt.
Trump is laying waste to his oath of office and the separation of powers — he behaves as an autocrat, above the law and our Constitution — his sycophants Mnuchin and Barr degrade our democratic norms and the rule of law. Trump remains a public servant, beholden to the people and our laws.
Hold him in contempt. He isn't above the law.
4
This is the manner in which fascist dictators in other countries have acted. Mafia Don’s, too.
Here, what’s the difference?
The erosion of any real confidence in our government, even by those of us who are optimistic and faithful Americans, is real. The only thing fake is this chumps innocence.
Lock him up and throw away the key.
6
Trump, a failed President, is no longer take seriously by any rational person anywhere in the world. He despised by 60% of his own country and the entire rest of the world. And he now has the law breathing down his neck.
In response, Trump tries to wag the dog with a war with Iran. But I note the NYT doesn't yet have it's pompoms on and isn't yet chanting, "WMD! WMD! WAR! WAR! WAR!". So we may not be there yet.
1
When Trump stonewalls, ignores subpoenas, refuses to allow administration officials to testify or produce documents, lies about having asked his staff to fire members of his Cabinet, etc., then Congress -- every conceivable committee with a stake in such matters -- needs to pursue him on every possible front.
At this point, political calculations be damned. The man is defying all conventions of American democracy and violating his oath of office. The proverbial checks and balances must hold him and his minions to account.
If the House Democrats fear they will emerge from such action having damaged their re-election prospects, if they lack the communication skills to inform the American public that their oversight responsibility OBLIGATES them to curb presidential abuses of power, then maybe they don't deserve their seats and they should be primaried by brasher, bolder, more fearless members of their party.
I have no idea what they're waiting for. What more damage must occur before they're hit their tipping point?
I know this is an over-generalization, but it rings true. Republicans are evil, Democrats are weak.
5
Congress should absolutely hold any administration official who fails to comply with a subpoena in contempt. They should be arrested and brought before the house. If Congress fails to act in compliance with the Constitution our democracy is lost. Imagine living in a country where President Trumps word is law. No appeal, no judicial reprieve. We must fight to protect our Constitution!
Well, looks like we are going to need to apologize to North Korea, Turkey, the Philippines, Venezuela, Russia, and every other current and former "strongman" country on earth!
We have our very own "strongman", who is above the law. And from now on, charging anyone with "obstruction of justice", regardless of how strong the case, is going to be near impossible. Every lawyer worth their salt will cite this case, and move for dismissal.
Impeachment proceedings should proceed immediately. The house can wait until the votes are there in the senate to call for the vote. The point here is to make the case.
1
1. Not one stolen election was contested.
2. Not a single voter suppression tactic is a conversation in Washington.
3. Mean spirited laws that were on wishlists since the 70s are finally being shoved in.
I’m thinking he can shoot a man on 5th Ave...
6
Senator Levin, don’t be too certain that Congress—I mean *both* bodies, not merely the House—is too eager to hold Donald Trump in contempt for ordering his subordinates to defy the law. The Senate, under Mitch McConnell, who’s the de facto president of the Confederate States of America, is firmly in the pocket of the president.
Without even invoking the name of Judge Merrick Garland, just today the Majority Leader scolded us and said “it’s time to move on” from the Mueller report. In attempting to sabotage the House’s effort to bring Russian interference in 2016’s election—and 2020’s as well, to book—McConnell is saying “there’s nothing here to see.” The president knows that without McConnell’s incendiary motives to incinerate the Constitution, a Democratic-controlled House represents the greatest threat to his wobbly tenure.
McConnell, of course, is thoroughly familiar with the concept of checks and balances; he used them in a cynically pernicious way when Barack Obama was the president. Who would be surprised to discover that he’s been in the ignorant president’s ear about how the possibilities of circumventing the Constitution, that dearly beloved document that Republicans love—because they can scour it for the many possible loopholes that may be used to turn the document upon its head, rendering it a mere piece of antiquated parchment, a relic to be used as a tool as needed, depending upon political majorities on The Hill and the party that occupies the Oval Office?
6
Aren't we at the critical juncture, the one we've all been waiting for? It was clear from the beginning that we'd get to this point, and here we are. Trump
wants to rule with absolute power. He is making his move, confident that both Houses of Congress will allow it, one with support and one by abdication. So far he has been right. The problem for the country is not that Trump seeks dictatorial powers, the problem is the opposition is not resolute in its opposition. A protest, yes, here and there, but the overwhelming defense of our system of government is underwhelming. If the opposition to tyranny within Congress is insufficient, the job will fall to The People. This could get ugly real fast. Please Congress, remove this man from office.
1
Trump is more successful at hiding things than Congress is in uncovering them. Inherent contempt could change that. Faced with the prospect of jail until this Congress concludes in early 2021, most non cooperators will cooperate. Executive branch officials with security details may be able to resist arrest by the House Sargent at Arms, but everyone else will go straight to jail, until they cooperate. Trump has been showing us real limits to the powers of Congress to investigate him. Congress should flex and show Trump a thing or two about power to investigate, using inherent contempt. Now would be a good time to start.
1
So far, almost all the cards have been in Trump's hands, though that is largely a result of the expanding powers of the Presidency over the past 20 years.
Maybe it's time for Congress to dig up their old inherent contempt power. In addition, they should give the DOJ zero in discretionary funding until Barr complies with their subpoenas. Congress has been wounded, by its own hand, but it is not powerless.
7
We have seen time and time again that Trump does not understand or respect the rule of law. He doesn’t care for the Constitution. Realistically the only rules he respects are those of the so called strong men. Putin, Kim and the Nazis being his heroes.
So I say, Congress should use the strong man approach that will work with him. I say to Congress, cut his funding where it will hurt. Stop his multiple trips to Mar-a-Lago. Wasn’t Camp David the weekend retreat. Let go there instead. Stop funding his election rallies. Pass legislation that he cannot combine rallies with any other work. Travel to a rally must originate from the White House. Pass legislation limiting the time department secretaries can stay in “acting” status. No salaries to be paid if they continue as acting.
I am sure we can find other outrageous stuff he does that Congress can stop.
I also look to the NY Senate and Trish James to act. Continue the investigations into his State taxes. Trump will soon learn to heel - I mean follow the Constitution and respect the will and voice of the majority. He shall be taught that there are three million reasons why he must do so. We are still a democracy. Hopefully we can stay united and prevent a takeover by this dictator.
17
Can someone under suspicion of obstructing justice obstruct an investigation looking into whether or not that person obstructed justice? That's not executive privilege that's high octane executive anarchy.
17
We've all seen this play out in a store or a restaurant. A mother walks in with her child, who immediately becomes slightly unruly. He walks around, making disrupting noises, and the mother says nothing. He starts to knock down things, and the mother says "Johnny", be careful. Then, he starts to scream, and the mother scolds him, but does nothing. Finally, Johnny starts to break things, and the mother shakes her head, but still seems unable to control her child.
This is the dynamic we are seeing between Pelosi and Trump. The child is clearly in control, and the mother refuses to do what is necessary to bring him under control.
And yes, its a shame that a 70+ year old is acting this way!
7
@keith
Your analogy doesn't work at all. Pelosi isn't responsible for bringing Trump into the store and letting him wreak havoc.
If we must use this analogy, the minority people who voted for little Donny put him in the store (helped by the people who voted for third party candidates, the people who didn't bother to vote at all, and our wacky electoral system where the popular vote doesn't matter).
McConnell and the other Republicans are the permissive supposed relatives smiling as they see little Donny the Destroyer wreck the place.
Pelosi is the store owner trying to prevent him from burning the place down.
1
Trump just got his advice and marching orders in his over one hour private conversation with Putin (with no Americans present). (The Russians gleefully publish the existance of these talks soon after they happen--because they can.)
Trump, as he has done his whole adult life, will ignore every law and tradtion until or unless he is smacked in the face. He uses law as a means to harrass and intimidate.
To think Trump is willing to destroy the United States of America (and maybe the planet) in order to improve his chances of getting to put his name on a tower in Moscow.
Putin will continue to lead him on--but is not going to ever allow a big red "TRUMP" at the top of a tower show up in every picture of the Kremlin. Our president is both a criminal and a sucker.
8
Pelosi, Nadler and Schumer are not up to the task. They are moving at a snail’s pace while Trumpco is breaking laws and destroying our democracy at break-neck speed. These Democratic geriatrics still don’t get it. This is all-out, no-holds-barred war. They better stand up and fight for their constituents or we will toss them to the curb at the next opportunity.
4
Inherent contempt extend to imprisonment. Even one forceful and prolonged detention will send a message. However, inherent intent also included other penalties such as garnishing wages and applying a daily penalty until the subject of a subpoena complies. Last I checked, we were debating $20,000 a day with no salary paid to government employees.
$20,000 a day is $100,000 a week if you're only counting business days. That figure adds up quick. If we're counting weekends, you're talking about over half-a-million in under a month.
Now I understand many public "servants" in Washington are exceedingly wealthy. However, if you have $500,000 to burn, chances are we aren't talking about M1 money supply. Even wealthy lawmakers are going to need to start liquidating assets in order to comply with the congressional penalty. They'll waste even more money fighting the punishment in court.
By all means, hold them in contempt. Lock them up. However, if you really want to hurt a conservative, bury them in financial liability. I'd love to see Barr's face when he is forced to declare bankruptcy over a contempt penalty.
8
Don't care, and likely most Americans don't either. If they didn't care about Russian collusion during the midterms, which is why democrats weren't talking about it, they likely will care even less now that Mueller has issued a report that failed to recommend criminal charges.
This is still an inside the beltway issue. Outside the beltway Americans are concerned with more important things. And they must notice that democrats aren't talking about those things.
Plenty of us outside the Beltway absolutely do care that a Fascist is consolidating power, thanks to a traitorous GOP Senate and followers too clueless to understand the stakes. Impeach now regardless of what this means for polls and 2020 elections. If we are not a nation of laws, what are we? I’m astounded there are so many who aren’t alarmed. We MUST put a stop to this NOW!
11
In 1974, Republican leaders joined with Democrats to investigate Nixon's criminality and obstruction of justice, a process that ended with Nixon's resignation. Where are the Republican heroes now to rid us of this current horrible president?
20
This is just the first salvo in the Trump republicans takedown of our constitutional system.
16
Democrats should dish it right back. Ignore requests from trump to meet and discuss anything. Keep passing bills with no republican support and let everyone know what's in them. Keep the impeachment going on behind the scences and treat him and the entire GOP as the illegitimate traitors they are. Remind people daily of the fact that they are refusing to accept the results of the midterm elections. Let him shut down the government, take away obamacare, whatever else he and the gop want. If that doesn't illustrate for the american people the real evil the gop is up to nothing will.
12
The time has come. Hold him in contempt and lock him up. Then deny him access to twitter. So be it.
8
When you add up all the ways in which Trump has tried to prevent Robert Mueller, and Congress, from obtaining the information they've requested, it amounts to obstruction of justice, plain and simple.
Start the impeachment hearings Mrs. Pelosi!
13
I had bosses all my life. When my bosses wanted to talk to me I had two options: listen or go look for a new job. So it goes.
The president is our employee, and Congress is charged with providing oversight of that employee. I expect the president to listen. Or, he can go look for a new job.
But he cannot pretend it is none of our business and that the only recourse is at the ballot box.
Hang on to your bootstraps, folks- it's going to be quite the ride.
6
The Democratic leadership has a short window and a big job to do. If they ignore that duty because it may not be politically expedient, I will cast my vote and support for another Party or someone else. We expect them to uphold their oath and responsibilities ... right now.
7
We have no other option than to begin impeachment procedures. I don't suppose the Right would tolerate the same behavior from a Democrat.
We need to stop holding him and his supporters to such low standards. They're capable of more, I still believe that sometimes.
12
We are a very weakened Democracy. For decades our leaders have forsaken the people as they put their donors first. I have seen the trajectory of the public driven into the dirt by its leaders as they cowtowed to their corporate masters. We are on the cusp of losing the Republic thanks to our elected criminals. Please don't tell us what could be if the house does its job. They've forgotten how to do their jobs. I have lost faith in all our leaders regardless of party and Levin was part of the problem for lack of serious over site.
3
The proper constitutional remedy is impeachment. That is what Congress should initiate now. If the President blocks testimony for an impeachment inquiry, the Supreme Court can tell us whether we now have one-man rule, above even the Constitution, or whether he and his conspirators must comply.
We may as well get one with it. Why wait until he refuses the results of an election or starts a war or declares permanent "emergency" powers?
16
No matter what well informed Americans know about this disgraceful president, his base will vote for him in 2020 and it scares me to say he will be elected for a second term.
6
@Vietnam Veteran I'm not sure why this has been said so often lately in various places. More and more Americans view donald as a disaster.
We must not get complacent. We have a great chance of winning in 2020, but we must keep our energy up and keep fighting for what's right.
31
The President seems like a guy that is feeling his oats (and a little more) and wants to stick it to the Democrats. Rub their noses in it. Dare you. Double dare you. He is in one of those reckless, mania modes that comes over him periodically, the last one was the government shutdown. Stonewall this, tariff that, fire bomb Notre Dame, Derby stewards got it wrong. The House should not get caught up in his mania. They should continue to investigate, use their powers, work to turn public opinion and enough minds in the Senate to put this man where he belongs. Out of office and exposed to the world and the courts.
16
This is a thorough course in how a seasoned con artist operates. Try to put yourself in the place of those who were ripped off by him. This is how he always got away with stiffing people.
But not his time. Now he picked on The United States.
I see many orange jump suites in his future. Perhaps he will try for a plea that will permit him a padded cell for the criminally insane, along with the thief McConnell.
As traitors to the American people, they will lose everything.
11
Who is governing while Trump is sucking the wind out of the White House with his diabolical focus on his personal affairs? And does the Republican party really believe we can withstand six more years of this?
16
Senator Levin, yes, these are extraordinary times that call for extraordinary measures. I am in favor of the inherent contempt procedure to be used. In the future, I do believe it should be the priority of a Democratic president and legislature, to pass a simple law that requires under certain circumstances, the president and his cabinet, must testify to Congress. If the president will not allow others to appear before congress, when he is denying Congress it's right to do the job we elected our representatives to do, I would say he is hiding things that the public should know about. I think Trump protests too much, creating even more curiosity about what possible illegalities he is hiding along with his cabinet. I cannot imagine a Democrat refusing to testify.
8
For several months now, I’ve been of the belief that until the wealthy and powerful of all stripe are held truly accountable (as in serving serious jail time), this country will not begin to heal from the atrophying of the rule of law that has occurred over the past 30-40 years. Today, true justice is only visited upon the poor and powerless.
Today, I have to amend my belief. To end the corruption and abuse of law by the current administration and the Republican office holders at the national level, it likely will take someone going to jail who is NOT part of the cabal of the powerful. It will take an honest soul of conscience and character who cares about what is right/just. Something that likely will land them in jail: Tell what they know and provide the evidence to support their story.
The Presi-dunce and his supporters will call them “snitch, rat, or liar”, and demand they be jailed. If that’s what the law requires, so be it.
Others will call them a whistleblower and assume they have an axe to grind, or have been paid-off by a some powerful entity with an agenda.
Me? I’ll simply call them an honorable individual. One who did the right thing, at the right time, for the right reason; without regard for the consequences. It will be my hope that their action is enough to start a fire that burns hot enough to sterilize the disease that has been festering for too long and now threatens this country. Then, I’ll likely contribute to their “Go Fund Me” defense.
5
Everyone can pontificate all they want - this side that side - as a citizen of this country I just see someone who is GAF. What a little man - shame on all of us for standing back and letting this happen. Shame.
6
Here's a hint. Trump's a dictator. There's no "threatens" about it, it's happening right in front of our eyes. You're either a patriot or a collaborator. We know which side Republicans are on.
43
The corruption is wide and deep. We are living in an autocracy. In the history of the world, this kind of government has rarely been overthrown without violence. America will be no different.
It will take many years from now, when Carl Levin and I are dead, to rid ourselves of the stench of this Administration.
It is too late for this generation.
10
@Bert Gold
I worry daily that you may be right. People are talking about it, and that IT is rebellion made necessary by a fearful Congress. What else do The People have when reason fails them? One thing is a massive and unified general strike. Such an action on the part of The People might give the opposition to Trump within government the courage they appear to be lacking. Congress needs to hear from The People in a manner impossible to ignore.
1
The Democrats have held him in "contempt" since he took office. So what's new here?
Bottom line: They can no more put him in prison for "contempt" than he can have them arrested for being contemptuous. Done deal. US Constitution.
If not successful impeachment, 2020 is their only "hope for change". Unfortunately, they think he's going to get another four--why such animus for him now.
1
So far in 2019, the House has not recieved a single requested document from the White House for this term.
14
Contempt is too high a standard for a shameless human being such as DJT.
7
Pseudo event turned into “news”.
This is going nowhere. Partisan hacks writes about a political matter that is utterly meaningless. Alert the media.
1
Even the liberal deep state does not believe that Congress has an absolute right to obtain any tax return. Imagine a Republican Congress demanding the tax returns of every Muslim American. The Times would be outraged. The same way liberals acknowledged that President Trump had the power to dismiss FBI Director Comey but could be indicted or impeached for doing so for a "corrupt purpose." Similarly, Don McGahn's advice as counselor to the president is protected by attorney-client privilege. A client has to be able to speak to his attorney without worrying that it will all become public someday. Imagine again a Republican Congress hauling in Obama's counselor and demanding to hear everything he had told Obama when Obama was president for the purpose of smearing Obama's reputation. You all hate this president; that is all that informs your hypocritical thinking.
SHerman, the law has been used repeatedly by Congress for decades and the law says the Chairman of the committee in question has the right to tax returns and the IRS "shall" provide them which means there is no wiggle room. They are not asking for very Muslim person's records but the Presidents. Every president from Nixon forward has provided theirs. Many states and city governments provide the same from their officeholders. The only reason Trump supporters who demanded the last President's birth certificate and college transcripts is they know unequivocally he is a criminal and a swamp creature and they do not want it exposed.
3
It is hard to hold someone in contempt, when the other party is contemptible. Let's face it, Trump has better poll numbers than Congress. For years Congress has become a body which most voters have contempt, or respect, for. People still at least respect the President of the United States; or did until after the 2008 election. They also had respect fro Supreme Court. But, thanks to corporate oligarchs, they bough all three branches; starting with Citizen's United.
Yes, Trump is defying Congress. Yes, Congress should take action by having hearings. And, yes both parties share the blame and responsibility for this nation's ills.
So far, it looks like the 2020 election is not going to change any of the ills. If anything, things may get worse. Apparently, ethics, morals and common decency went out when President Obama's second term ended.
By the way, in a different era, Congress would be deep into impeachment hearings putting the rule of law, and the need of the nation above party politics and partisanship.
Trump si in contempt of Congress. Congress is in contempt of the citizens of the United States. If it weren't for how the Senate is elected, 2020 should be the eyar that all 535 of them, plus Trump, should be sent from office.
So, not only need term limits, we need to have public funded elections and make any form of political contributions and lobbying illegal. Also, make every Washington politician and appointee subject to high ethics standards.
6
When this chapter in US history makes into the next generation of textbooks, do we really want this to be the last sentence:
"And to this day, no one quite understands why they do anything to stop him."
3
Congressional oversight of the presidency, this and others starts and ends with Mitch McConnell. He is well familiar with just saying no, despite any law or precedence. If Congress wants to hold anyone accountable, start with him. Start with his oath of office.
21
I remember Nixon and Watergate well and most Americans felt that the system of law saved the nation from an outlaw president. Maybe. Now I am unsure if the Cult of Trump can be defeated in their effort to thwart the delicate checks and balances we have. If not our democracy will be permanently eroded as we quickly move toward a more authoritarian form of governance.
13
Senator Levin: thank you for your clear explanation of why Congress should hold President Trump in contempt. Sure, great that Congress has oversight and can imprison someone not complying with a subpoena. Our Constitution's system of checks and balances has been thrown under the bus by Trump. How much longer will our democracy be eroded by an unfit and ignorant president who has divided America along partisan lines and who communicates his foreign and domestic policies by social media Tweets? There's a clear and present danger to our country, and it's in our White House.
368
@Colmedad: The Right's agenda encourages greed and self-centeredness; it denigrates women; fosters sexual control of others; promotes systemic violence against certain groups of people; glorifies war; celebrates rudeness under the guise of not having to be politically correct; denigrates anyone who is not a straight white male; forces Christian religious and social traditions on everyone; sees inequality as a deserved fate of lazy moochers; and rebels against the duties of being a decent human being. Through multiple entitlements to unearned goods--like raiding pensions --the right-wing politician promises to ensure the material welfare of the already wealthy, denies healthcare to the poor; and ensures ongoing wealth inequality. . Radical right-wing people thus assault the foundations of kindness, cooperation, and civilized freedom. Given its irrational goals, coercive methods and historical failures, and given its perverse effects on character development, there can be no question of the radical right's agendas madness.
85
Lest we forget McConnell’s hands in all this , if coarse is not corrected soon, this country is in real danger of erosion
17
@Nan Socolow
How much longer? you ask?
As long as it take for MILLIONS of us to get off our "aces" and surround the Capitol and the White House and DEMAND the ouster of the illegitimate, criminal, usurper.
So, since we don't know how to do that, I'm guessing "longer" means about 10-12 years based on life expectancy given he has a poor diet, does not seem to exercise and is obese.
3
Every citizen should be deeply concerned that trump thinks he is above the law, and not accountable to Congress...who represent the People! in so doing, trump is defying the U.S. Constitution, and is breaking his oath/promise to the American people that he would protect and defend the U.S. Constitution. Instead, he is protecting himself and his own power. Shame, shame, shame on trump and anyone who continues to support this CROOK!
26
The final blow to this saga will be the many, many henchmen (and women) that will be stained beyond forgiveness for supporting the DICTATOR in the WH.
Perhaps Federal Prison for the bunch of them will give them "religion."
Justice, at times, is quite slow but will prevail.
8
The House Democrats, if they were serious when they took their oath of office, must begin impeachment proceedings against this lawless and asinine president. I don't count on any Republican members of Congress standing up to the travesty that is the Trump administration. Regardless. they need to be put on record.
Politics should not even enter into the equation anymore. If America is to become a banana republic, at least the rational ones remaining among us should go down fighting.
15
@Alan R Brock
Absolutely correct! And those who fret about political strategy may not be giving the citizenry enough credit. To the extent that impeachment hearings in the House serve to educate the educable, pressure may mount on Republicans to do the right thing. But you make the more salient point that even if impeachment is strategically dumb, best to go down as patriots fighting for liberty, justice and the American way (constitutional imperatives)! The intro to the Superman tv series had it right.
2
Sure...blame Trump, blame “the White House”.
Equally to blame: my Ohio Senator Rob Portman and the other Republican lap dogs that protect and enable Mr. Trump.
Remember Senator Portman for this. He’s a wimp.
26
If the contempt charge goes to the Jutice departmentment, headed by Barr, we can guess the result.
2
Yawn, AG Holder had a contempt citation hanging over him for 3 years during the Obama administration. Really is way to much drama going on here.
2
@mkm
Have you forgotten that a federal judge found no basis to hold Holder in contempt, stating that the contempt motion “...is entirely unnecessary.”
4
@Steven K. Brown - Judges have no standing in Contempt motion by the House of Representatives and certainly cannot void it.
1
If there were really "checks and balances" operating in the federal government today Trump would have already been impeached and convicted for trying to obstruct the "Russia investigation" by firing Comey and trying to get AG Sessions and others to shut it down. Not only was that obstruction (and possibly collusion, even if unintended) it was also Treason. So much of Trump's treasonous behavior has been public for long before the Mueller report. Only Republicans and Trump supporters fail to see just how treasonous this POTUS' behavior has been.
300
@RLW "Only Republicans and Trump supporters fail to see just how treasonous this POTUS' behavior has been." This is not correct. They don't fail to see it. They see it. But they like it, and so they aid it and abet it.
12
@RLW
Thank you for using the word Treason. I can’T understand why treasonous behavior is not being applied to any Republican who supports the actions of this administration.
3
Right now the House of Representatives looks like a toothless tiger in its battle with Trump. He ignores subpoenas, forbids underlings to testify, and generally claims whatever powers he wants. Meanwhile Democrats and the media wring their hands and shake their heads. As Trump claims dictatorial powers over America, is there no way to stop him?
230
@Steve Kusheloff
The only way to stop Trump is if we, the voters, take matters into our own hands next year. Every other institution and group of people has failed to restrain him.
34
@Steve Kusheloff
There's one.
4
@Steve Kusheloff The Congress will win virtually all of these fights in the courts, though not for several months. As though we needed another illustration of the fabled Pyrrhic victory.
8
Did anyone catch the action today in 'the greatest deliberative body in the world, the US senate? At least that's how it's described by the flag wavers. It was riveting. The rows of empty seats were absolutely riveted as speakers words echoed throughout the chamber.Very impressive.........not!
2
Put this autocrat under house arrest while his tax issues are being sorted and take away his phone.
13
As much as the actions of the president and his cadre of criminals and sycophants troubles me, it is what you describe here that I find most disastrous for our country. Yes, he is an illegitimate president because he sat by as a foreign government attacked our elections allowing him to eke out an electoral win, yes he obstructed justice, yes he is violating the emoluments clause, the list can go on. But in stonewalling congress he is undermining our very democracy and tearing at the foundations that make our government function. I hope congress dusts off its inherent contempt power and throws these reprehensible individuals in jail.
8
I, in the main, agree Senator Levin but why not call out your former colleague, Mitch McConnell for aiding and abetting Trump's bad behavior?!
5
"President Trump doesn’t seem to understand any of this," writes Levin.
In fact, Trump understands this quite well. He simply is to shred American democratic principles to further his own interests and shield himself from the rule of law.
With the unstinting and valuable aid of the Republican Party, Trump is determined to re-make the presidency into an institution more to his liking.
Of course, in so doing he is transforming it into a dictatorship. No amount of Democratic Party protests, subpoenas and hand wringing are going to alter his course.
With the egomaniac in charge we are far into unchartered waters.
Will anyone stop him? Apparently not, at least not at this moment.
152
@Ricardo Chavira
Exactly. Once I got to the line, ‘President Trump doesn’t seem to understand any of this’ I had to role my eyes. That’s a complete misreading of Trump to think that it’s lack of understanding, not willfully challenging Congress at every turn.
7
@BC
More precisely, Trump both doesn't understand it and doesn't care. He just wants to be "free" to get his way -- in the same sense as the wealthy libertarian wants to be free to trample over other people.
2
@BC Obama warned us, upon leaving office, not to underestimate Trump. The punditocracy nevertheless persists in doing so.
He is corrupt, and he has a lot of experience at it. He will never be reined in. And he won't be brought down easily.
1
Congress must hold Trump in contempt of Congress.
They should also censure him for his open contempt of the Constitution, his contempt for democracy, and his contempt for the American people.
They can hold off on censuring him for his contempt of the laws against obstruction of justice and his contempt for defending the U.S. against attacks on our democracy by a hostile foreign power.
They can save those for the articles of impeachment.
126
Even if the entire vile GOP faction in Congress suddenly dropped dead and were replaced with fully Sane Democrats, it would STILL be full of enough "center"-right establishment Democrats that Congress would not only not bother to hold a contempt vote but keep sending the loser the usual NDAA and war powers renewals—and if he'd steal disaster relief money to fund his anti-immigrant obsession, he would definitely use DoD cash as his Bigotry Monument Slush Fund.
Impeachment talk is not absurd. Silence as he continues to commit impeachable crimes is. Come on, House of Reps...
4
I’ve long held Him in contempt. Enduring, irreversible, exceedingly deserved contempt. But that’s just me, a nasty Woman. Join me, please. VOTE them ALL out. It’s the least they deserve.
Seriously.
20
Is this not obstruction of justice??
3
We're leaving this to the Democrats?
1
@Michael
And the option is?
2
I would love to see Democrats as "angry" about legislative issues that make a difference to my family.
I am sick of this political theater.
American people should be angry that their government no longer governs. What a farce.
@Lauren
When did you notice? How about after Obama’s midterms when McConnell got more power to obstruct? It’s been nothing but posturing since.
3
@nora m
How about the last 20 years.
The contempt power of congress is a bit rusty because, until recently, no one wanted to be found in contempt of congress because it was once assumed by most people that such a person, thus found, was clearly a criminal. Now, in these times, criminals are embolden because a criminal is the president.
There is no need to hold back with every possible legal avenue for stopping the lawlessness that is the Trump presidency. His base will not be convinced no matter the evidence, so trying to placate them is a fools errand. The law abiding must stand up and fight, or they are allies to the criminal. Additionally, to hope that the GOP will return to sanity is more than a fools errand, it is evidence of mental instability.
197
@Chris You wrote "His base will not be convinced ...mental instability" and I just want to say your logic holds. Well said. Thank you.
8
@Chris - There maybe some mental instability in the mix, especially as concerns the malignant narcissist, but I'd say the problem here is more pure corruption and total disregard for the law in pursuit of power than any mental issue.
7
@Chris said "His base will not be convinced no matter the evidence, so trying to placate them is a fools errand."
Who cares what his base thinks? They are the Cult of Trump. If he told them to drink poisoned KoolAid, as Jim Jones in 1978 in Guyana told his People's Temple followers (and they did), these people would follow orders.
You do not cater to criminals, and you need not worry what their followers will "think."
Either we support the Constitution and the rule of law, or we end up with a dictator.
History tells us that dictators never end well, and neither do the people and the countries that they rule.
4
Trump will get away with anything and everything that Congress allows him to; even starting an Iran war thanks to his lunatic henchman Bolton if it so helps him. So stop enabling the man to wreck the Constitution, that which holds the country together. Any titbit of benefit that these hypocritical Republicans might glean by protecting this appalling man will be returned in spades further down the road; further eroding and further dividing the country. But they seem to care not one whit about the country, only their own future for a few more years before heading off to a glorious retirement. Self-serving greed such as this is the most insidious killer of everything and anything. It's a disease that's wrecking the country, as the likes of Trump's Russian buddy know all-too well. Trump couldn't possibly do more to aid our adversaries and harm our friendships.
Checks and balances? Yeah, right. Only if people actually stand up for them does that work.
177
@James Devlin
Checks and balances? Think that check is in the mail...
1
@expat
Hope it balances our checkbook.
Hearing from the author who has lived much of the history of recent events relative to today's impasses, makes his commentary clarify the import of the crucial issues today as they have arisen in the past. The Constitution is under attack by a would be Putin look alike. The Constitution will prevail as it has in the past given the knowledge that this type of struggle has happened before and we still will continue to be a Nation of Laws.
1
Trump only respects power and he needs to be put in his place as he does not seem to know what the job of a president in our democracy is and it is not dictator. Trump gushes over Putin and Kim dreaming that he can rule as a hybrid of them both instilling fear in dissidents and demanding applause when he appears never critiqued by anyone.
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@REBCO Correction, Trump doesn't respect anything.
4
The senator writes that Donald Trump “doesn’t seem to understand this,” referring to the Constitution. I have read this statement about Trump many times since he became president. I think he understands the Constitution very well. He just doesn’t care.
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@Joel Soroka I guarantee you that donald has not read the constitution.
First of all, he's only able to focus on himself at all times, for the purpose of seeking either adulation or revenge. He'd never have the patience to focus on reading the constitution.
Second, he only likes to read documents with lots of pictures, so only a child's version with simplified language would work.
13
@Andrea P. - trump understands what he wants to. He's broken and flouted the law his entire life and cynically used the law to get away with it. The Constitution means zero to him. He'd set fire to it tomorrow if he thought it would benefit him. And McConnell would gladly give him the matches.
25
@Joel Soroka trump claims to understand, or at least have knowledge of what is written in articles 9 and 12.
1
Trump's base got exactly what they deserve with this tool. The upsetting thing is that they don't have a clue what he's doing to their democracy.
4
I am about 99% certain that the Democrats want to see Trump's tax returns mainly so that they can be leaked ahead of the election.
1
@kwb
Then you are equally certain that they contain damaging information. I agree and the public needs to know it. Don’t you?
3
Senator Mitch McConnell claimed today that Democrats are trying to "delegitimize" Trump's Presidency. Sorry Mitch. By thumbing his nose at Congress, Trump is doing that all by himself.
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Dear Hive mind: How would congress "detain and imprison" an individual who was found to be in contempt? How would that finding be made and by whom? What police force would be utilized? Where would they be held? Would presidential pardons usurp the finding? I am curious of the details on how this would all work? Can someone walk me through it?
@rene
Congress can call on its sergeant at arms to arrest people in contempt.
1
What a contemptible individual. Will Congress allow him to hold this country hostage. It's election season already. We'll see who stands out above the crowd. Senators, representatives or Mayor. Someone's got to save our country.
9
djt is a contemptible individual and deserves an in-depth investigation by Congress to see if he is also a criminal and deserving of impeachment.
For he and his counsels to use the slow pace of the court system as protection from proper investigation shows a criminal mentality and itself is deserving of punishment once this is all over. Should the final verdict by that this was a massive cover-up, attorneys involved in giving advise need to be disbarred and where prison terms are part of the legal punishment, they need to go to jail.
The Courts in the US that first get these cases need to be cognizant of the need for expediency so the body politic can make the proper decision in 2020.
4
Based on past behavior congress will stew and grumble and conclude that the best they can do is to call Trump some bad names.
In the interest of fair and balanced reporting
From the NY Times, 28 June 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."
End of quote
From the Washington Post, Friday, April 8, 2016
"The Obama administration caved to a judge’s order Friday and sent documents from the botched Fast & Furious gun-running operation to Congress, complying with a subpoena the House Oversight Committee issued years ago.
President Obama had claimed executive privilege in trying to shield the documents from Congress, but a federal judge rejected that, insisting lawmakers had a right to see the information in order to complete their investigation into an operation that saw thousands of guns trafficked into Mexico, with the administration’s knowledge.
With just hours to go before the judge’s 60-day deadline, the administration complied Friday."
End of quote
The inconvenient, very, fact is
Democrats set the precedent .
And President Obama , fought Congress , finding his AG in contempt, for 4 years
I am all for fighting Trump, but leaving out the precedent is disingenuous
1
The Senator writes "President Trump doesn’t seem to understand any of this." I disagree. He understands ALL of this. That's why he's playing rope-a-dope with Congress. He has way too much to lose and his actions show it.
8
The more relevant question is why is he allowed to hold them in contempt ?
1
It's almost as if Donald Trump neither knows nor cares about the Constitution and wants to be a dictator, and the Republican Party wants that too.
13
It would be a downright dirty shame to look back and wonder if the US's built-in Constitutional remedies might have worked - if someone had tried to use them.
2
Since when has a policy become more important than our laws? (the "DOJ policy not to indict a sitting president").
I'm disappointed that Mueller did not insist on an interview with Trump--because he would just "plead the fifth."
I wanted see Trump claim the 5th Amendment, repeatedly.
The more times, the better.
Then maybe it would have been obvious to Americans that this corrupt president is indeed hiding many illegal actions.
13
@SLBvt, how much more obvious can it be? A pathological liar, a criminal, misogynist and Putin’s useful idiot. Kim’s boyfriend...so they had a little spat. McConnell’s master.
3
The rubber will really hit the road when the Supreme Court rules that Trump must comply with congressional subpoenas. When he refuses to abide by the Court's order, we will truly be through the looking glass.
The executive branch is the only one with any real muscle. That's probably the only thing about the Constitution that Trump actually appreciates.
5
@Donny no, it's those other people who pass the laws...and hold impeachment proceedings.
1
@Donny, kavanaugh owes him big.
5
@Donny I doubt very much that the Supreme Court will
rule that Trump must comply with the subpoenas! Trump is betting on it!
4
The onus is on a Democrat-controlled Congress. Either a fearful and timid Congress lets the Executive and its lapdogs get a pass, letting them use the Congressional Body and the Constitution as mere doormats or Congress summons all the tools and ammunition available at its disposal and goes to war. Barring the latter, we are toast as a nation and will officially enter the league of Banana Republics. We the electorate will be paying very close attention.
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@Newoldtimer
Ah, yes, close attention. And then what?
4
@kenneth - The Sound Of Nothing But rickets On A Deathly-Silent Night.
@Newoldtimer, you wrote: "The onus is on a Democrat-controlled Congress." Unfortunately, the Democrats only control the House. The Republicans control the Senate, which squelches most everything important the Democrats in the House try to do.
1
It seems as if we've entered a chapter in American history where it has become decidedly quaint and old fashioned to be concerned about things like checks and balances. Unitary executive theory, a particular interpretation of Article Two of the Constitution, is very much behind the expansive views of executive power supported by Trump, Barr, McConnell, and I suspect at least some of the conservative justices on the Supreme Court. What's at stake right now is nothing less than the Constitutional norms we've taken for granted since Watergate. If Trump and his supporters get their way, what we think of as check and balances will be irreparably harmed. Congress cannot back down. This is their moment and the purpose for which the framers created the Legislative Branch. Proceed with caution, but with determination. This fight is a long way from over.
32
@Seth G. Good point. Actually, though, it was BEFORE Watergate that we took those norms for granted. We've never really been the same since.
3
@kenneth I agree to some extent that these norms may precede Watergate. What I was getting at, though, is the more modern day norms about executive power and Constitutional constraints that grew up after Watergate - and one could also argue since the Clinton impeachment. But it's yet to be seen if the Special Counsel rules written after Clinton's impeachment will help us through this mess. Neal Katyal's writing on this subject is fascinating and essential reading.
2
Cleary the president's strategy in stonewalling congress is an to delay and keep this dispute in litigation until after the 2020 election. Mr. Levin's solution, invoking Congress’s inherent contempt power, last used in 1935, is the solution. This should be done forthwith and will likely expedite the matter to the Supreme Court where, despite the conservative majority, there is at least some hope our system of checks and balances will endure. I wonder though, do the republican legislators protecting Trump, and the sycophants surrounding him, realize that should their tactics succeed this dangerous precedent can and will be turned against them by future Presidents of a different party?
3
I don't believe Mr. Trump knows the broad strokes of The Bill of Rights, much less which powers are granted to which branches of governments.
That was the danger all along in having an uninformed ill-tempered person in the Oval Office, that he would lurch from conflict to conflict and rely only on his most base instincts...survival and revenge.
He's made a mess of everything he's touched in his life. His administration is no different.
59
Unfortunately, Senate Republicans show no inkling of educating him!
2
Of more immediate concern, will Trump start a war to further consolidate power? Senate Majority Leader McConnell would certainly support him, as would Senator Graham, Senator Romney, and the others that have sold their soul. What will Congress do differently to ensure American democracy survives the next Executive Branch assault, assuming the ability to do so? It appears the Supreme Court, along with AG Barr, will not always act to uphold the US Constitution. I suspect the current FBI Director, pushing back on Trump, will be the next to go.
10
@dyeus To your point about war, I wonder what's up with alleged new threats from Iran? Pompeo is on his way to Iraq.
1
The real issue is that congress completely abdicated its legislative responsibilities when cable news and money entered politics since one was no longer rewqarded for being a statesman and taking risks.
I firmly believe the best that could happen to this nation would be if every single federal legislator died at the same moment, allowing for a complete ideological reset.
15
@Emily
So, who is going to fill in the gap in the interim? It takes time to set up a new government, with new elections.
Are we to run around in a leaderless state of chaos in the meantime? Will we end up with military rule?
Maybe we will end up like the Arab Spring.
This would the perfect opportunity for one of those ultra-right militias to step forward. They are lying in wait for such an opportunity and you are wishing it for them. Really smart!
1
Wow, that's drastic! Sort of reminiscent of Guy Fawkes! I don't think you're entirely wrong....but.
Trump is delaying and defying Congress because he perceives no downside to the tactics. He clearly knows what he is doing is wrong, but he does not care. To him, this is just a negotiation tactic where there are no downsides. Congress should not focus on impeachment. They should use alternative channels if they are available and hold people in contempt. Jail if necessary. Show the enablers that their are consequences if they defy Congress. By all means keep obstruction of justice on the table. Mueller just about handed that charge to Congress. If the Dems win the WH in 2020 the indictment and trial of Trump should begin asap. A little jail time should clear his mind.
44
"The broad sweep of these efforts threatens the country’s history of accommodation between the two branches"
"Accommodation" is not what was demanded.
It is quite clear that the Committee means to vote for public release of this private information, and that such release is the only real purpose. It is political, point scoring, and no other genuine governmental purpose. It is just to Get Trump. That isn't "accommodation."
Ask yourself, how many here would be happy if only Nadler and his people saw those tax returns? How many really expect that is what would happen?
Furthermore, the subject of interest is not whether he paid his taxes. That is at best incidental, and has already been audited -- by the Obama Admin.
The subject is how he can be embarrassed, and/or what incriminating information can be gleaned about the sources of his income.
Those are exactly the things the Supreme Court has ruled that tax returns cannot be used for. That ruling was in 1927, as part of holding that the filing requirement did not violate the 5th Amendment.
2
The subject of interest to me is whether the emoluments clause is being violated, and related to what extent the President is subject to pressure based on his foreign business interests. There is a large signal already about this, and the topic needs oversight. Embarrassing is not an emotion that matters for the President and his colleagues and supporters. I hope the Constitution still matters to them.
23
@Mark Thomason
And how is it that you do not think incriminating information that can be gleaned from the sources of his income is not a legitimate subject of interest to congress and the people of the United States? I have no doubt you would think otherwise were the president a Democrat.
1
@Mark Jacobsen -- Gleaning such information from a required filing violates the 5th Amendment, and so it is prohibited in the Internal Revenue Code and case law, harshly and completely prohibited.
I'd say the same for a Democrat, since except for Hillary I support them.
at this point it’s obvious that the president is a criminal. actually, that point came long ago. unfortunately, it is also obvious that x number of people in the country don’t really care. even more unfortunately, the x factor may be bigger than the y factor (y are us, the good guys; you know, the perfect people). i just hope enough y’s guys vote in 2020, and there enough y’s on our security forces when it comes time to physically remove mr. x.
19
McConnell’s asserts that “it’s over.” Most Republicans in Congress agree. What about us citizens of the United States of America who know that the most important element of the Mueller Report does not concern Trump’s guilt or innocence, but concerns our ability to vote how we please, not how a foreign leader pleases? SCOTUS had better watch out for the nightmare scenario that Trump is setting in motion if he and McConnell succeed in dismantling all attempts by Congress to do the job we the people have sent them to do on our behalf.
If we citizens derive our only meaning from being dupes in election scams, and the House of Representatives and Judiciary Committee are valuable only if they profess allegiance to the President, and the Constitution is to be protected only at the President’s pleasure and/or convenience, who’s to say why the Supreme Court should have any oversight function at all? If the President doesn’t respect the rule of law and the norms of common decency, why should any of us? If Trump is trying to change the way we play the “game” of our democracy, why can’t more players get in on the game.
Trump presents a terrible danger to us all. When will Republican officials show us the respect we as citizens deserve.
84
@Elizabeth
Because the Republicans are too busy rehashing the Hillary-email-Bengazi-Obama-wiretap thing.
For them the Mueller Report may be over, but never the other thing.
4
@cl
They understand very well it is not over. They see the dynamite in there and quickly try to create a fire elsewhere.
In my lifetime, 69, I have never ever seen anything like this in a Western country. This stoops down to the very lowest level of where a country would be.
5
For all intents and purposes Trump has declared war on the legislative branch of the government. The only appropriate response is for Congress to fight back with all of the weapons at its disposal including but not limited to impeachment.
189
@Jay Orchard
Let's see how Patriotic Prez is.
Or, rather, how Constitutionally Correct.
Or, is it in fact "just a piece of paper!" as claimed by Gee Dubya Bush (R) in a moment of frustration. And not worth the parchment it's written on?
If you love America, you know the Truth -- our Constitution is the glue that holds the United States together.
Without it, what ARE we?
and, btw, parchment is animal skin.
4
@Jay Orchard said "For all intents and purposes Trump has declared war on the legislative branch of the government."
Try "For all intents and purposes Trump has declared war on the Constitution."
2
Just a question:
Who would do the arresting of Mr Barr if he was found in contempt?
He is the top law enforcement official. What if he refused to arrest himself? No seriously.
What recourse does Congress have if Barr refuses to act on the contempt charge?
21
@Bernie Areas of law enforcement report to the Administration, and areas of law enforcement report to the Congress. At least one Attorney General has found that out to his chagrin.
16
@Bernie if Barr is arrested he would be disbarred. That would pretty much end his career in law enforcement.
2
@Bernie I volunteer - swear me in.
4
I am so glad to have read this. Thank you, Mr. Levin for a very well written explanation of how our congresspeople can save our country from going down the tubes. I wish everyone in our country would read this and that the elected officials who represent us would act!
96
Congress has to do everything by the book, because a judge is going to want to see which side is being reasonable.
If Donald obstructs the investigation at every turn, all the judge will need for corroboration is the Mueller Report.
Donald has been obstructing justice since before his inauguration.
92
@Occupy Government "If Donald obstructs the investigation at every turn, all the judge will need for corroboration is the Mueller Report." AND SOMEONE WATCHING HIS BACK.
3
@kenneth
Provided that judge wasn’t a fringe lunatic appointed by Trump. Nobody should have any job for more than eight years, this includes the senate, the president and the Supreme Court.
We do not live in a democracy if one senate vote representing 200,000 people in North Dakota is equivalent to one vote from 20 million people in California.
3
I would love to see him cited for contempt of Congress, as it is obvious that he has contempt for all things Government except for himself.
55
@catlover Not ALL things. He loved his Inaugural Ball, and he loves being saluted by the Palace Guard.
14
@kenneth
Both of what you mentioned are about Him.
2
I think a contempt citation against Trump would exact a political price against him. He will run for reelection as the first president held in contempt by the House of Representatives. Add to that other political scandals including pending release of his New York State tax returns, testimony by Meuller and other important figures and potential actions on other legal fronts and Trump will be a truly beleaguered figure as he runs for reelection. Will the public discount all of this? I don't think so. I think he loses support and his opponent, whoever that is, gains support.
56
@Yankelnevich You're assuming that Trump cultists act reasonably and rationally when faced with facts that directly conflict with their viewpoints. An intelligent person would see conflicting data and rethink their position. Trump cultists see facts that disagree with their world view as invalid and cover their eyes and ears while screaming LALALA as hard as they can. History has shown you can only change the mind of the intelligent, and at this point, there aren't ANY of those in the Trump cult.
4
Yes, Congress can hold underlings in the White House in contempt should they choose to do so. However, no one should expect Donald Trump to care if that occurs. He has shown repeatedly that loyalty with him is a one-way street only. He demands loyalty but promises none in return.
I suspect he is absolutely loving the chaos he has created. Those who have worked for him in private business have stated he thrives on it. So, while we can watch aghast at how he behaves, this won't end until he is called to account. For him, subpoenas and contempt citations are little more than amusements for the day.
59
@Tom Q
Actually Trump does get stressed out. He is said to be furious in private over setbacks big and small. He yells, screams and tweets. In private he worried about the Mueller Report until it was released and interpreted to the public by Robert Barr.
Once it was implied that the Mueller Report was not all that flattering to him, Trump sent off another tweet storm.
The more stressed out he is, the more outrageous his public statements and the numerous the tweets. I have noticed this whenever he receives bad news.
1
Congressional oversight as directed in the Constitution no matter what! Republicans and Democrats of the future will be grateful for this must needed check on the executive branch.
49
"All of these requests serve legitimate legislative purposes: to determine, one, whether the I.R.S. is following a longstanding policy of auditing a president’s tax returns"
"whether the I.R.S. is following a longstanding policy of auditing A president’s tax returns"
First, it's "A" president's, meaning many presidents. Why Democrats checking general presidents' audits with Trump, and not with other presidents?
Second, why not just ask IRS for their audits results?
1
@areader this is exactly how they ask the IRS for the audits -- you, as a citizen, have the control of this information to release or not.
@areader
Do you really think the IRS audited trump??
1
@George,
Do you really think Democrats want to check "whether the I.R.S. is following a longstanding policy of auditing a president’s tax returns"?
For glaring, obvious and justifiable reasons, the American people and the world have held Donald Trump in contempt for years; Congress might as well join us, make it official and, as it were, a full house.
249
@Steve Griffith
And republicans in the senate will not. So....?
2
At the very least, the House of Representatives should vote to censure Trump. This can be done relatively quickly and he will then become the first president in almost 190 years to be rebuked for an action deemed unconstitutional.
203
@tippicanoe He'll just scrunch his face into that make-believe grin, call it "fake news," and go back to his corporate cronies at the country club.
17
@tippicanoe I've never found it very effective to tell a bully that he's being rude. That seems only to encourage them.
A censure is an utterly effete waste of time. Impeachment is necessary.