Yes, we did vote for oversight in 2018.
If the magnitude of the crimes, sexual predation, and treasonous behavior of Trump consorting with Russia, are not exposed, we will soon be governed by Oligarchs and sexual predators reveling in their corruption.
Trump’s enablers seem to believe that their strategy of committing so many crimes, to stress the justice system into collapsing, will work.
Nadler, should likewise, bombard them with as many subpoenas as necessary to hold them accountable.
They will eventually learn about the fleeting nature of power, and will have to pay for their crimes, however long it takes.
We know the law is on our side despite their thousands of lies.
1
To say that there is nothing more to investigate is ridiculous- Muller could not prove conspiracy because Trump obstructed at least 10 times and the DOJ is in Trumps pocket. This republican conspiracy to blow by the facts to support this incompetent president is disturbing to say the least. I’m embarrassed that Doug Collins my representative and will do what I can to get rid of him.
1
If the intent is to show the Democratic Party as obsessed with old accusations, negativity, and devoid of ideas then this overtly political investigative avenue is ideal. It will lead nowhere but give Trump ample fodder that he is the victim of angry, frustrated Democrat’s who can’t win at the ballot box and want to repeat discredited accusations that the FBI has already looked into. A party of outrage and anger may appeal to the extremists but it is ironically Trump who has more of a positive message of hope and American exceptionalism that will resonate more at the ballot box.
3
Lots of luck with that, there are those of us here that pay attention to facts, this will only be red meat for his base.
Nadler is the epitome of a worthless political hack. Move on Jerry, find something useful to do like modifying the asylum laws.
3
"The House Judiciary Committee will vote this week to authorize a bevy of new subpoenas on the Trump administration’s practice of separating children from their families at the border and on President Trump’s possible obstruction of justice..."
Vote to authorize new subpoenas? And then what when the Trump administration ignores the subpoenas when they finally get issued?
Is this the oversight we voted for in 2018?
Trump is not a person back away from any verbal fights with anyone except in front of Mr. Putin. It was a disappointment that Mueller did not pursue why Trump is so obsequious toward Putin and what has motivated his servile altitude. Greed, ego, and women are Trump's life pursuit. Had the prosecutors followed the money trails, it would have led to the answers. But Mueller never did after spent millions on his reports.
Oh my. These electeds sound like a bunch of middle schoolers. Stop the infighting and work together. Not one has actually effected any real changed and the bickering back and forth just further divides. Shut up and act.
2
Tired of hearing about it from the House Dems -- Do it or keep your mouth shut.
4
Great news if it were January 9th.
Pretty pathetic on the second day of a three day work week in the second week of July.
Pathetic.
2
Why is this taking so long?
5
The hypocrisy of Trump supporters is exceeded only by their persistent and insistant exercise of turning their sight away from the truth unfolding before their very eyes. Simply amazing!
7
IMPRESSIVE...... only if:
This was January 9th,
or
February 9th, or March 9th or April 9th.........
1
Just more ammunition for a obstruction of justice charge, when Donald J. Trump instructs his executive branch to ignore these authorized subpoena’s.
1
Two words:
Emoluments Clause
5
Corrected-
All politics. Proving again that the social left demos have no concrete ideas how to fix current issues or future plans to keep America great. Their focus was is and will be how can we make the president's life miserable. Go on with your subpoenas and any other tricks you may pull, the Trump base is unfazed and grows stronger every day. Trump will be reelected for a second term and the pathetic social left demos lead by the Squad will have another 4 year to run themselves to oblivion and make sure that after 2 terms the USA will stay a republic country.
3
All politics. Proving again that the social left demos have no concrete ideas how to fix current issues or future plans to keep America great. Their focus was is and will be how can we make the president's life miserable. Go on with your subpoenas and any other tricks you may pull, the Trump base is unfazed and grows stronger every day. Trump will be reelected for a second term and the pathetic social left demos lead by the Squad will have another 4 year to run themselves to oblivion and make sure that after 2 terms the USA will stay a republic country.
2
If the subpoena is as impotent a document as Trump and Barr have made it, why continue hitting your head against a wall? Is the subpoena all the Democrats have? We will not win the most important battles with this approach. The voters must know and understand the contents of the Muller report before going to the polls. At this point it feels like the Benghazi investigations by the Republicans all over again. Lots of time and money spent for nothing. You cannot shame this Trump/Barr crowd because they could care less. And since they believe in and act like the laws of the USA are meant to be broken, they will continue their path of destruction. Now they are even dismissing the Supreme Court. We better come up with a real method of fighting and quick. Does anyone think we may have to play the Republican game and throw some real punches?
1
These subpoenas are becoming something of a joke, empty threats, when trump and Barr routinely dismiss them. Unless Congress takes further steps to hold Barr in contempt, nothing else Congress does will change their conduct.
Even the "low information" voter knows that the Russia Collusion issue was nothing more than a political hit job. The Democrats are losing more credibility with each false attack, and will have to answer to the voters come 2020.
1
I think you meant to say "only the low information voter knows that the Russian collusion issue was nothing more than a political hit job."
Guess Congress hasn’t heard the un-indictable elite class are exempt from subpoenas, taxes, & military service.
9
seriously, the 30 hours of McGann cooperation showed multiple instances of obstruction. period.
1
If trump has nothing to hide why is he putting up such a fight? Produce the documents asked for and prove it is just political. The more he protests the more guilty he looks. If he is right prove it. Stop playing the victim and prove himself innocent. There is nothing that can prove Democrats wrong than producing the truth .
14
If you don't win, you lose!
Though the work of these committees is entirely legitimate, justified, and necessary, from a political perspective the Dems still need to figure out what happened in 2016 and stop with the excuses, stop dismissing those who support Trump with the latest stereotype equivalent to Clinton's "deplorables."
To win the Presidency in 2020, they must end their circular firing squad, and "their media", especially the New York Times, must stop their "Anybody-But-Biden" agenda, most noticeable in the quantitative distribution of positive and negative articles.
To understand Trump's support the (broad) Left needs perspective. Leftists tend to live in their heads, intellectualizing endlessly, not understanding that most people, especially under pressure, act more emotionally and less rationally than they would in benign, flush times. At such times of stress -- whether from real or imagined causes!!!! -- people don’t trust leaders who are perceived as largely rationalist, unattuned to the emotional. What they want from an executive is the ability to make passionate decisions with clarity, simplicity, and decisiveness. They want short declarative sentences, not convoluted policies and long sentences with several dependent clauses. In times of stress and insecurity, whether national or personal, only secondarily are they concerned with the actual, long-term implications and results of those decisions. Nor are they particularly interested in foreigners' needs.
3
@Steve Fankuchen excellent analysis! Indeed, if you don't win you lose.
Now, the question is how do you win?
You answered in part but you are assuming ISSUES don't matter since you don't mention them. How can this be?
The reason for "anybody but Biden" may be that he is the sure way to either get Trump elected or to win BUT with the guarantee he has already given to produce NO CHANGE.
What would be the purpose of winning if it is to keep the status quo - including presumably changes Trump made? It would be the recipe for riots or worse than Trump in 2024.
1
@crispy 40
Crispy 40, thanks for engaging. You are right about issues, but the question is which issues and how are they framed.
For instance, the "change Dems" are all for a version of universal health insurance, several notably wanting to abolish private health care (not that any of them has said how such would be accomplished.) Back last winter, your paper, the Albuquerque Journal, ran a piece saying the largest health care provider in New Mexico did not have a single primary care doctor accepting new patients. I have not seen a single candidate address the issue of access: what good is insurance if you can't get to see a doctor?
As well, how do you think New Mexicans with no real access feel when they see Democratic presidential candidates passionately concerned about medical care for foreigners at the border but not even a perfunctory word about the people of New Mexico?
Some of the Democratic candidates certainly are more aspirationally oriented than is Biden. However, it is necessary to win and stabilize things before we can go after the vision. Given that through the past 85 years Democrats and Republicans alike have ceded more and more power to the Presidency and the Executive Branch, it is necessary to retake the White House and stop the bleeding. Only then can we realistically go for a transplant.
A Democrat as President, even if liberal-lite or traditional (not Trumpian) conservative-lite would not be the status quo.
1
"it’s hard to imagine this handful of subpoenas will do anything but reinforce the principal conclusions we’ve been able to read about for months,” Mr. Collins said."
When were we able to read about them for months? I thought Mr. Barr sat on the report for weeks.
5
Published on Youtube July 9th is a video "What the Mueller report says about Trump's mental state".
It is a professional, non-hysterical fact-based assessment.
Every American should see this.
It will help us all understand what is taking place inside Trump's decision-making processes.
4
Mr. Nadler and the rest (Mr. Cummings, for example) please do the job, whether it is issuing subpoenas or filing in court, quietly and efficiently. There is no useful purpose served by trumpeting each minor move in the media.
Firstly, the journalists are not your friends, they are in it for money, so they do not care where your investigation goes, they just want it to cause chaos and attention, which they will "helpfully" explain to the rest of us peasants in those banal, insider-knowledge-implying, name-dropping chitchats they call reporting.
Secondly, it telegraphs everything you do, actually broadcasts it to Trump and his Republican cronies. They then have enough time to block even the most basic operations with extreme interpretations of laws and rights. Which is ultimately destructive to rule of law and the very backbone of our democracy.
Finally, everyone needs to ask themselves which side they are on? Having a care for the nation and saying, "I will get to it AFTER I have made a few bucks here" is not going to fly, not anymore. There is no need to be dramatic, in fact the exact opposite is needed. But we need to be very very realistic about what is going on.
Those of us who love this nation, who respect rule of law, fairness and integrity, we are now, in the words of the fictional Dr. Jones, "pilgrims in an unholy land." We need to restore balance, to the true majority who live this nation and its values. That requires less of the usual and more discipline.
2
Some day, Democrats are again going to win the White House (probably not in 2020) and the GOP is going to regain the House. I hope all Democrats remember what they have been doing to Trump for the past 2 1/2 years while completely forgoing running the country.
If any think that the same thing isn't going to happen to them in spades, think again. Reid used the Nuclear Option to get ObamaCare passed, and the GOP has returned the favor by getting their Supreme Court candidates and literally hundreds of Federal Judges appointed using that same Nuclear Option.
Revenge is coming some day and its going to be pretty awful.
3
@Rocky Gee Rocky, have you been asleep for 2n1/2 years?
You say "I hope all Democrats remember what they have been doing to Trump for the past 2 1/2 years while completely forgoing running the country. "
During 2 years The Senate, the House and the WH was in the hands of republicans and they did almost nothing. They did not even try to tackle major reforms.
Since Jan 2019 democrats have a majority in the House only and they have passed major legislation with a total of over 100 bills passed that are sitting in the Senate where McConnell has refused to bring them to a vote.
We need a law, or an amendment forcing the Senate to examine and bring a bill for a vote within 50 days of passage in the House and vice versa.
Republicans engaged in total obstruction during 8 years under OBama and they are doing the same now in the Senate. I think this should be ground for impeaching McConnell.
1
Houses passes bills; they die at McConnell’s door. I suppose you forgot Bengazi hearings and Newt Gingrich’s stunts?
4
Shouldn't there be a committee to vote on whether or not to have a committee to vote on a vote to create a feasibility study to see if there should be a vote to form a committee to vote on a vote? We'll wait. No hurry.
6
@Chris,
Don't worry if you're confused, as the rolling corruption and lawless actions (pretty much everything from even BEFORE the inauguration)
will be fleshed out in the coming months as the courts will ultimately reject all the reasons that will be trotted out for refusing lawful oversight by Congress, and all
the spineless cowards in the GOP will wonder what they were doing all these moths, and why.
5
@Chris YES, YES, YES, Trump has all interest in making this drag on and on and Pelosi is his enabler!
Even republican senators told Amash PRIVATELY impeachment is warranted. We don't know how many would actually vote to convict but that's NOT the point!
The point is oversight and Constitutional duty.
McConnell's failure to bring 100 bills to a vote should also be ground for impeachment.
4
July 9, 2019
The child mind of a fake inept President Trump and let the litigation Juggernaut- throw him out of office -
To protect, and defend the decency of our political class - serving the interest of America the beautiful an enlighten mantel universal
3
$25,000 per day fine for defying subpoenas
And keep the handcuffs ready.
31
This is legal war, and to win this war requires that democratic leaders have a good sense of timing as to when to initiate each battle in the Courts.
That said, I hope Pelosi, Nadler, and the rest of the Committee Chairs have done a good job backward planning from November 2020 to ensure the American people get the facts and fully understand the lawlessness of Trump and his band of thieves, as well as, the unethical behaviors of McConnell and the Republican Senate.
Therefore, being aggressive with taking the fight to the Courts is necessary to control the rollout of information to the 60% of voters that have not drunk the Trump/Republican kool-aid. Charge on democrats, with alacrity!
12
The Democrats in the House are abusing their investigative powers and instead of trying to help the American people all they focus on is get Trump. This will surely come back to haunt them especially after the AG report comes out on Obama and Biden spying on the Trump campaign illegally.
3
@P McGrath, nothing would help the American people more than getting rid of Trump. And about that spying thing ... good luck with that.
8
@P McGrath You are speculating on the results of the AG report. For the record, here was no "spying" according to the heads of the FBI: this is propaganda.
The house committees have the authority, under the Constitution to ask for the documents they requested (including tax records) WITHOUT providing ANY reason. Read the appropriate section of the Constitution on oversight. There is no abuse except from Trump who is claiming "executive privilege"where there is NONE.
5
@P McGrath You're kidding right?
6
Jerry Nadler issues subpoenas and they are largely ignored. This is a non-event, another in a long line of stalling tactics by Pelosi's foot soldier. Jerry Nadler used to have chutzpah. Now he has a challenger. Lindsey Boylan.
Richie Neal, her other passive committee chair, just got New York's permission to ask for Trump's tax returns, but he's sitting on his hands, preferring the long, slow pace of a lawsuit to run out the clock. Two other committees got the same power from NYS. Bet they fall under the spell of so-called leader Pelosi, too.
Nothing will happen. Democracy just keeps slipping away.
2
@Stuart well, Pelosi is a multi-millionaire and some suspect not all this money was acquired legally so there is blackmail.
Also remember Cohen said his family was threatened to prevent him from testifying against Trump.
Instead of jumping on this mafia technique MSM ignored it. Was it covered in the NYTimes?
I heard it live in the hearings!
Too little too late. Things will continue to be tied up in the court system until the election heats up and then it's too late for him to be held accountable. I blame NP and her choice to not defend this Democracy and its people, with the tools meant to do so.
Her arrogance and use of power in assuring a tepid response to the assault on our Democracy has lost her, my support. "He impeached himself" is insulting, We all know that he does not suffer real consequences for his transgressions, no matter how egregious.
Public opinion is not the standard or by which laws are enforced.
Our Constitution was written to assure accountability from our representatives.
Our forefathers provided effective recourse to mitigate the dangers that Trump and his enablers represent to our Democracy.
Choosing not to impeach and to expedite exposure of his actions, reflects questionable intent. To wait for an election, sends the message that the clearly defined and powerful response to corruption and lawlessness, can be ignored for political gain. I have yet to hear how refusing to impeach defends us, or the Constitution. Her choice to gamble with mine and my children future to hold and gain power, is the reason we find our nation in trouble.
The Senate can ignore Congress and not act on their findings. They will be judged for their abandonment of their Oath.
NP not allowing the full truth about DT to be part of the public consciousness is just as bad and many of us will vote in response.
3
@JDH " ignored for political gain" JDH, I agree with you except I see zero political gain from Nancy's position.
I think she has been threatened (mafia-style) or bis being blackmailed.
The professor who predicted presidential results accurately since 84 recently said on CNN that Trump will be re-elected "unless the democrat show backbone". I believe backbone meant impeach. What do you think?
Constitutional duty should mean something.
Amash said some republican official privately congratulated him and said they'd vote to convict!
1
Mr. Trump--who does not appear to even grasp why we have laws or cares what the Constitution says--is governing by (1) executive privilege and executive order (banning government officials from testifying before Congress); and (2) executive pardon (anyone found guilty of committing crimes in the Trump administration will be assured of a pardon by Trump.
So what can congress do legally to enforce its subpoenas? Otherwise, Trump just rendered them meaningless by executive order and crowed himself King of America by executive order.
6
I am amazed that so many of the people commenting know so little about politics. This whole thing is politics. Impeachment? Never going to happen. Remember: 2020 is a Presidential election year and the Democrats need a better message than re-litigating the Mueller investigation.
Perhaps there was obstruction, however, the main reason for the opening of the investigation into the Trump campaign was the possibility of collusion between the campaign and Russia. From where I sit and from my reading of the Mueller report (more than anyone in the Democratic party) there is no "there, there." Mueller could not make a case and in fact said in his report that there was no evidence of collusion with the Russians by the Trump campaign.
As to Obstruction: Well, Trump certainly wanted Mueller removed but he also had his White House Counsel Don McGann interview for 30 hours with the Mueller team. Sounds a lot like cooperation to me.
Remember this: if the Democrats play out this "dog and pony show" they will have created no legislation, and will have to answer to the voters next year. What will they have accomplished? Nothing. Just investigation, upon investigation, upon investigation.
Let's see what happens in 2020 if the Dems continue to do nothing but howl. Believe it or not Trump can still win.
9
@Rosie James very bad analysis except "the whole thing is politics" indeed it seems to be but it should be about Constitutional duty.
There are several grounds for impeachment besides the Mueller report conclusions - not to minimize 10 counts of obstruction of justice.
Some articles of Impeachment were written back in early 2017!
"they will have created no legislation" you must not pay attention as over 100 bills have been passed and are sitting in the senate where McConnell won't bring them to a vote and Trump is threatening to veto.
McConnell should also be impeached!
29
@Rosie James "Believe it or not Trump can still win."
That is exactly what the professor who predicted presidential results accurately since 1984 said.
He will be "UNLESS the democrats show backbone".
Doesn't backbone mean impeachment?
I think it does!
14
@Rosie James Impeachment, maybe not. But an impeachment inquiry is demanded--not by Pelosi, but by the Constitution. It really is not a political decision-but rather a process the Framers created for this exact situation. Like in in 1973--remember?
23
I may not know enough about the way the system works, - but over the span of the last months I have become convinced that Subpoenas are too blunt a weapon to achieve anything like “effective oversight “ . Too slow, too easily ignored, no real political or other prices to be paid if ignored ...
Most of the facts are known, aren’t they? Do Democrats really expect a new wave of outrage in the American public when listening to all those scandals again? If what is known so far is not sufficient to get rid of Trump and his cronies - why will a few more embarrassing moments ( if anything could still embarrass these people at all) add or change? Nothing, I am afraid. Something is seriously wrong in that system.
54
@Wolfgang
Look at his approval ratings. They were at the lowest when the Mueller report came out, and the highest in his presidency now that that 45% of the country thinks he was totally exonerated.
At the very least, impeachment would broadcast his crimes in the open in a way that the nearly unread Mueller report never did.
Subpoenas are an unnecessary waste of time. Democrat leadership has no interest in impeachment, and knows that by using subpoenas and litigation, she can bore the public into apathy.
3
@Wolfgang You got that right!!!
Pelosi is a bigger problem than Trump now! There is a process that was created 240 years ago to deal with a " Trump". But the Framers never imagined the Speaker would also be corrupted and ineffectual in the same moment when we would need them to be bold and decisive.
We are in BIG trouble.
5
@Wolfgang Subpoenas are a good tool if they are enforced with fines and arrest warrants.
6
I hope that Nadler and Committee actually get useful information in these hearings. Although I do not hold out much hope, as they are not going to show up. Why doesn't Nadler just have those who do not show up arrested by the Capitol Police? It is time for action, not just sitting there and not having those who have been served subpoenas show up. Maybe then the Hearings will be taking seriously if there are real consequences.
Mueller agreeing to testify will be interesting. Hopefully it will be more enlightening than his 9 minute statement to the press.
And hopefully the redactions will be removed. We Americans have a right to know exactly what this very expensive investigation really uncovered. More importantly it would be nice to have such a highly regarded lawyer to act like a real human being and answer in simple, direct language. So that we average people can understand what he really concluded.
71
@Jean
considering the recent reoprt that MOST of congress HAS NOT read the Mueller Report, the whole notion here seems ludicrous.If they haven't read the report, are they just basing their decisions on what was reoprted in the news? Is that really how the government operates? May =be we just need to reduce the number of congress people to a manageable group and go from there. Why spend taxpayer money for people who only get the info from the news?
8
@dve commenter concerned committee members have read the report and others may be too busy as many subjects have come up this year with crisis after crisis created by Trump to distract from investigations. Over 100 very popular bills have been passed in the house, perhaps a record, and McConnell refuses to bring them to a vote. This in itself may be an impeachable offense.
We need a law stating that house or senate must act on a bill passed by 1 side withing 50 days maximum or the bill becomes law and not subject to veto (amendment to the Constitution?)
5
@Jean " Why doesn't Nadler just have those who do not show up arrested by the Capitol Police? "
I agree that subpoenas have to be enforced but to be arrested they have to be in the capitol...
The law must be changed to arrested by any US law enforcement, anywhere in the world.
4
If Trump had actually co-operated and sent information previously to the House when requested, we wouldn't now be seeing a tsunami of subpoenas.
Of course, if he had submitted the information, we might now be watching Month Two of Impeachment Inquiry Number 5. (This particular inquiry has considerably less relationship to Mambo Number 5 generally, but surprisingly more than we might otherwise think. Not as good a rhythm though)
66
@Jacob Sommer
You don't understand how the world works. If you reward the Nadlers of this world and their abuse of Congress's powers to paper the White House over with subpoenas, you will just get another deluge of subpoenas.
Don't feed the animals.
1
@Ian Maitland
Perhaps you weren’t paying attention, but a blizzard of subpoenas to the White House was a lot of what we saw in 2011-2016, and for far less reason than the current sheaf.
The animals already gorged, and it was one of the reasons why 2016 played out the way it did. Tell me how that played out for the GOP that election cycle?
And when Trump's people ignore them, will they be arrested? A subpoena is worthless unless it is enforced.
199
@O. Sarnelle
I agree. Start with big fines then go forward.
45
@O. Sarnelle I agree on fines and arrest but currently I believe only the Capitol police can arrest them.
The law must be changed to" can be arrested by any US law enforcement, anywhere in the world."
2
Kelly and Sessions have no love for Trump. I’m betting they’ll obey their subpoenas
Harassment is all it is and American voters see that as counter productive and a waste of time.
3
@William NO! It's Constitutional oversight duty and so is Impeachment.
2
The Benghazi-type endless hearings will dominate the news to the detriment of the Democratic Party's election platform and message
2
Oh what joke and a waste of time and probably tax payers money for all I know. Nothing, I repeat Nothing will be done no matter how many of trump's dark and foolish deed show up. He us already committed murder on the boarder, 7 children and counting and he could actually shoot someone on 5th ave and get no more than a head shake and mournful mouthful of words from Nancy that we must be patient because if she does anything now and Mitch says no than Trump will be cleared and never stand trial. These subpoenas are just for show and for show to make it look like the poor underdogs are doing their darn best for the citizens. Oh yes where is the 15 dollar minimum wage old Nancy promised in the first one hundred hours of gaining back the house?? You will never see it by any effort from her folks. She fooled you once again, and she is fooling you now.
3
@cheerful dramatist The Raise the Wage Act is cosponsored by 181 members of the House of Representatives and 31 senators (wikipedia). It was introduced on Jan 16th 2019.
The house labor committee has approved it.
With 100 bills passed and sitting in the senate with McConnell's obstruction it LOOKS LIKE nothing is happening. Trump controls the attention of the media.
Democrats should consider a "daily briefing".
It's about time.
5
"If the committee votes to authorize the subpoenas as expected, Mr. Nadler will have the discretion to decide when to issue them."
Don't hold your breath. And when they do issue them, then you can bet the subpoenas will be ignored with impunity. But you can be sure Nadler will issue a strongly worded letter! That'll teach em to imprison children in squalid camps! Put that strongly worded letter along with the subpoena, straight into your circular filing cabinet! Or frame it and put it on your wall! Auction it off on Ebay! I would bid a dollar and a half for one, for sure.
Compare the operation of this Dem controlled house with the Republicans' Bengazi aggressions, or the Oversight Committee under the corrupt Repub congressman Darrell Issa from S California.
What a bunch of cowards! Worse than pathetic. A disgrace to this nation.
4
@Bobby yes indeed "What a bunch of cowards! Worse than pathetic. A disgrace to this nation."
I'll say more: not upholding your oath of office and oversight duty under the Constitution are impeachable offenses! WHO will have the courage to say it?
At the minimum start an internal debate to replace Nancy as speaker.
Raising the heat doesn’t do anything... unless it boils... no damage to Trump, unfortunately only annoyance. American people are getting fed up with Trump’s unethical, corrupt way of governance.
7
@RBR
Are they really? His approval ratings will continue to trend up as long as the Economy remains strong. Remember: "It's the economy, stupid" ?
I'm all for this, but it seems that this process should have started on day 1 after the mid-terms.
Once McConnell stole a Supreme Court seat the entirety of the Democratic Party should have said, "OK! The gloves are off, and nothing is off the table!".
They need to master the Congressional rules, and start to use them the way the GOP has been for decades - which is ruthlessly.
How long has it been since Barr and others told the House that "We don't have to honor subpoenas!"? Why are they not in prison for contempt as we speak?
Stop using the kid-gloves on these traitors, and start sending them to jail, and fining them into the ground! We are sick and tired of waiting for the hammer of justice to pound these scofflaws into submission.
If Trump was a Democrat, he would have been impeached two and a half years ago.
Where is the leadership on this? Why are the Dems still playing ring-around-the-rosy with the bulldozer GOP?
27
raising the heat? this is laughable and the DNYT is a part of the charade
If Trump and his administration can simply ignore subpoenas then no one should ever comply with a subpoena going forward. Doesn't that make the USA a lawless country?
10
@joe
If Trumps the neofascist face of an authoritarian regime is Canada our Poland?
Although I think none of this will have any effect by November 2020 this is the way a democracy works. The dictatorship we have been living under has to stop.
Again I get back to this, the majority of people in the US knew what kind of disgusting person Trump was going back decades. Democrats knew this yet we have had to continue to wait to bring this criminal to justice. No excuse except Washington DC is broken and needs new leadership.
5
@Hal
DC isn’t broken. The Republican Party is.
3
Maybe if Pelosi would let Nadler begin a formal impeachment inquiry, we could actually get somewhere. But no, Pelosi would rather play footsie with Trump than play hardball, so now all we can do is throw subpoenas at the wall and hope they will stick. Spoiler alert: they won't. Not without an actual plan for follow-up, at least.
6
Trump and the criminal GOP are allowed to operate with impunity because the Democrats are hopelessly weak. If the shoes were reversed, these subpoenas would have been issued last year, and many of these people would have already testified.
Instead, the Democrats have dallied around, worried more about the 2020 election than their Constitutional duties, and otherwise frittered away their opportunity to hold Trump responsible for his clear and obvious wrongdoing.
Trump is openly joking with Putin about how they'll steal the next election, and meanwhile Pelosi is in a war of words with AOC. The Democrats never miss the opportunity to let the GOP get away with crimes, and because of the Democrats' weakness, Trump will win a second term.
America, I used to love you, now I just want OUT.
7
" it’s hard to imagine this handful of subpoenas will do anything but ..."
No need to imagine anything. Just issue the subpoenas and collect the evidence.
2
A stack of pebbles, under the right conditions and their place and time will only need to have a nudge, a quake, a quiver or a foot to fall to set off a devastating avalanche.
1
And when the subpoenas are either ignored or resisted by the WH I think the facilities in Clint TX are available
4
@Brassrat yes indeed! After all the administration claims they are just fine.
The thing is I think only the Capitol police could arrest the gang and that is possible only in the capitol which they would avoid.
Another law needed, or an amendment, giving law enforcement at large, the power to arrest anywhere in the world.
I have to agree with the Republicans on this issue(s). Until and unless there is oversight with real muscle over the executive branch and can act with all due speed, 40% of "america" will ignore what is going on. Lawlessness of unprecedented proportions is strangling the life out of the federal government. I hope the "base" wasn't really serious when they wanted to tear everything down, because as they said in the movie "Jaws" when the shark finally appears, "we're going to need a bigger boat". But the captain refused to call for help. We know what happened to him. The two smarter guys got away, but it was sheer luck. In the real world, the story doesn't always have a happy ending. Can we do a "hurry up impeachment" or not? We have N.Korea, Iran, Central America, the Saudis, Al Khaida, Isis, Syria, China, Russia- IOW many problems without even turning to domestic issues or the environment. And Trump is still going to be there actually campaigning for a SECOND term? Can't we just put him in handcuffs now, while there's still (a dwindling bit of) time left??
4
Subpoenas from Democratic controlled House committees are now considered by their recipients as junk mail, since there have been no consequences to just ignoring them. Those who choose to ignore a subpoena should be either assessed a significant cumulative daily fine or held in contempt of Congress, or both. Their place in history should be recorded.
6
This is all so glacial. I almost forgot there was anything going on in the House around investigating the findings of the Mueller report.
But there is something going on...but it will be forgotten about because of the stonewalling tactic.
I don't see how Speaker Pelosi can be credited with being a brilliant political strategist when she doesn't employ a tactic of her own to overcome the presidential stonewalling.
Imagine if an impeachment inquiry were instituted; the subpoena process would be "weaponized" with the recognition we are in a state of national emergency, and that stonewalling would be further evidence of obstruction. Compelling testimony from witnesses to a national emergency should not be so difficult.
Without an impeachment inquiry, I fear we will get to November 2020 and know no more then than we know now.
Impeach yesterday Madame Speaker.
3
Some are saying that the House is covering the same ground Mueller did, and Dems are only grandstanding for political gain.
I could see that point of view if the full and unredacted Mueller report - including all backup testimony and discoveries - was already available. But the unnamed conspirator number one has had his "justice" department prevent release of that report. Furthermore, his AG is acting as "number one's" personal attorney - not as a servant of the people.
They should all be impeached, and everyone knows who "they" are.
8
Go with the subpoenas , go Judiciary Committee. Time to pin down those trump cronies who think they are above the law.
3
“Even if Chairman Nadler still believes subpoenas are conversation starters, it’s hard to imagine this handful of subpoenas will do anything but reinforce the principal conclusions we’ve been able to read about for months,” Mr. Collins said.
So there shouldn't be any problem letting the witnesses speak to the committee, eh? I'm glad at least Collins has the powers and authorities of the three equal branches straight in his head. If the Mueller Report exonerates the president, then why the continued obstruction?
2
Tactically, the House is brilliantly taking these initial steps to eventually formulate what will most likely be the most numerous and detailed, by far, Presidential Articles of Impeachment in our country’s history. The sheer volume and levels of detail contained in the eventual constitutional indictment against this Fake President will, by itself, provide a highly forceful dynamic when the Senate’s role, the trial of Trump, finally commences. By then, the sheer weight of these vast, publicly disseminated charges that have been brought could, at last, result in the abandonment of Trump by “ship-jumping” Senate Republicans attempting to save their and their party’s futures. History could repeat itself, in accordance with the Nixonian model, leading to a forced resignation by Trump from office.
Tired of the Dems slow walking their subpoenas. They need to push as hard and as fast as possible. These are not complex issues, and it's hard to get courts to move quickly when you show no sense of urgency.
2
"I think it's time that we considered whether or not the time may soon be coming, when we may have to consider what could be a strongly worded statement that, at some point, may eventually start the process of taking the preliminary actions of holding meetings on what may, or may not, be the beginning of substantive meetings on how we may end-up proceeding down the path towards taking some kind of action, that eventually, may result in the decision to move forward with further decisions."
This is not progress. Progress is when scofflaws like Barr, etc., start going to jail.
At this point, everything the Democrats are doing should be with this singular goal in mind - sending people to prison, Until such time as these people begin to fully comply with any and all Congressional requests - period.
This needs to be a sustained effort, with 100% of their power and resources being brought to bear. 24 hours a day. 7 days a week. Until these criminals in the GOP get the message. I.e. Comply right now, or go to jail right now.
J-walkers get prosecuted with greater speed and ferocity then these people who are destroying this country day-in and day-out by leaps and bounds.
The House of Representatives in this country is given enormous power via our Constitution. It's time to start using it to it's fullest extent to stop the hemorrhaging of our democracy and it's institutions via the actions of the criminals currently running the GOP.
4
More unenforced subpoenas really does nothing without the fear of prosecution for not responding. Unless some people are actually arrested and jailed this paper tiger doesn’t even growl. All show and no go seems to be the message this Congress is sending to the executive branch.
2
At last, a Democrat doing SOMETHING.
Get out in front of it and begin aggressively making the case for impeachment. That's the only way that a majority of the American public are going to start to approve of it.
1
What I've finally and fully realized, after the revolutionary airport is that trump isn't very smart, and woefully ignorant of history and politics. So he relies on the bully street tactics he used make property deals. That worked (sort of) when there wasn't a bright light shining on his every move. He is out of his league, now.
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The extent to which the Republican party has abandoned the rule of law in favor of mob rule is frightening. It's well past time for the law to exert itself and demonstrate to this administration of scofflaws that the United States is still working, and the rule of law still matters.
It looks like the Republican ride on Trump's tiger is coming to an end. Amazing that only Justin Amash has had the sense to see the writing on the wall.
Thank you Rep. Nadler. Let's have some law around the place!
17
So what. Those subpoenaed will either ignore them or refuse to answer the questions. Without the leverage of an impeachment inquiry, the dems will continue to look toothless and spineless and play right into Trump's hands.
8
How about issuing a subpoena to Shawn Hannity as a co conspirator? It has been reported that Trump and Hannity talk almost daily. Hannity claims he is not a journalist so this is not a freedom of the press issue. He is not a government employee so he is not under the umbrella of executive privilege. But they do talk and Hannity knows about what goes on behind closed doors.
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I trust Pelosi to time these decisions so that the issues will remain front and center through next year. No need to rush things.
13
Fantastic. Nothing to hide, no problem.
4
The underlying question is how to make the witnesses talk. The WH is preventing that. What good is issuing subpoenas to people who just sit there?
What is available to Congress force people to truthfully answer questions?
22
@If it feels wrong, it probably is
Prison time!
9
Even though Hope Hicks said very little, we did find out that trump validated there was a Moscow tape he feared going public. The Steele Dossier is valid.
In the atmosphere of a virtual rogue White House which has steadily refused to comply with former requests from various House committees, it is refreshing to see this full-fledged effort to rectify the worst of the possible unlawful behaviors on the part of those who have aligned themselves near or inside the Trump presidency.
From day one of this Trump White House, suspicion has been drawn to much that goes on within. Mr. Trump has obviously surrounded himself with a cadre of undesirable characters. Some of the unsavory suspects who were found guilty of breaking laws have already been indicted and are serving prison time. But this is likely just the beginning of revealing more of the nefarious players within the Trump circle.
This is not only about politics: one of the roles of Congress is to hold hearings to shed light on the possible wrong doing about any aspect of the government--including (and most especially) the presidency and/or those within a president's administration.
Harking back to the important revelations brought out by the Mueller Report, there has been consistent, ongoing follow-up by some members of the House of Representatives, as is proper.
Now it seems the full weight of that body will be felt by those who thought aligning themselves with the president of the United States would somehow offer them license to just carry on undeterred by the law. Wrong.
May justice finally prevail.
10
A little skepticism is called for. Nadler is covering ground covered by Mueller. Mueller issued criminal subpoenas and had far greater power to enforce them. (Congressional subpoenas are more easily evaded.) Mueller had the power to give immunity and could and did prosecute witnesses to pressure them to testify. Nadler lacks those powers. And Mueller was at it for 18 months. The election is less than 18 months away. Finally, regarding George W., Nadler also called for impeachment, but backed off because it was too close to an impending election. And when he backed off he announced that impeachment was nonetheless warranted.
Nadler is a politician. Mueller was a career prosecutor. If you expect Nadler to outdo Mueller, you'e not thinking straight. And if you don't see politics here, I can't help you.
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@michjas
Mueller said he could not indict a sitting president (even though he found evidence of obstruction of justice). In other words, he handed the ball over to Congress to do it via impeachment. Nadler is now doing his constitutional duty to investigate so that our representatives can decide whether to impeach or not. The president apparently thinks he is above the law and does not have to answer to Congress. This is dangerous on many levels. And if you don't see that, I can't help you.
4
Great, issue subpoenas.
However, if and when the White House "instructs" those summoned to testify that they should not (or may not) do so, I suggest the Sergent-at-Arms of the White House be authorized to hire as many deputies as required to go out, find, arrest, and physically bring any summoned witness to the House for testimony, and to hold in jail any such person who refuses to testify (i.e., not even to take the Fifth) for the duration of the 116th Congress.
Fight fire with fire.
Use your power of "INHERENT CONTEMPT" to get these people to give an accounting, in public, before the cameras.
That power has been specifically authorized by the Supreme Court decision in McGrain v. Daugherty, 273 U.S. 135 (1927).
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@Joe From Boston I hope the secret service arrest those bogus deputies and charged them with trespassing
3
@Joe From Boston
I apologize for the typo.
I meant:
... I suggest the Sergent-at-Arms of the HOUSE be authorized to hire as many deputies ...
I think we can all expect that he White house is not going to do anything to assist the House of Representatives.
7
@Jimd
If you read McGrain v. Daugherty, 273 U.S. 135 (1927), you will see that the Supreme Court said:
1. Both the House and the Senate each have the power to investigate almost anything that could affect any legislation they might consider, and if after investigating, they decide to do nothing, that is ok too.
2. The House and the Senate have the power to enforce their own subpoenas by actually going out and arresting a subpoenaed person who fails to appear.
I think a copy of that Supreme Court opinion with a copy of a subpoena that has been ignored, handed to a Secret Service agent, will make the Secret Service agent stand down.
Those guys OBEY the law.
trump? He SPITS on the law if it does not come out his way.
I am waiting for the day that the US Marshalls frog march him out of the White House in handcuffs when he announces he will ignore the Supreme Court.
He must think he got elected Emperor. Nobody told him he has no clothes.
One of the few promises Trump has kept, and that is in 2016 when he predicted the next administration would be hampered by investigations and hearings. Or some such. If he and his administration were not so criminal and incompetent, they might get something done. Oh well.
9
subpoena as a political weapon.
shame on Dem
1
@Joe Yo
The power to subpoena witnesses by the House and/or the Senate, and to arrest, bring to the building for testimony, and to jail witnesses who refuse even to testify by invoking their Fifth Amendment rights has been specifically authorized by the Supreme Court decision in McGrain v. Daugherty, 273 U.S. 135 (1927).
You should read that opinion, because it explains a lot.
Here is a link to a copy of the opinion:
https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/273/135/
10
@Joe Yo I never thought I'd see the day when politicians would do things for political reasons. Who woulda thunk it?
Unfortunately, our President and his AG insist that laws do not apply to them. Until there are arrests, nothing transpires. In the absence of action by Congress — real action — the legacy of this era will be an Imperial Presidency and a castrated, impotent Congress.
14
The work of these committees is entirely legitimate, justified, and necessary, but from a political perspective the Dems still need to understand what happened in 2016 and stop with the excuses, stop dismissing those who support Trump with the latest stereotype equivalent to Clinton's "deplorables."
To win the Presidency in 2020, they must stop their circular firing squad, and "their media", especially the New York Times, must stop their "Anybody-But-Biden" agenda, most noticeable in the quantitative distribution of positive and negative articles.
To understand Trump's support the(broad) Left needs perspective. Leftists tend to live in their heads, intellectualizing endlessly, not understanding that most people, especially under pressure, tend to act more emotionally and less rationally than they would in benign, flush times. At such times of stress -- whether from real or imagined causes!! -- people don’t trust leaders who are perceived as largely rationalist, unattuned to the emotional and spiritual. What they want from an executive is the ability to make passionate decisions with clarity, simplicity, and decisiveness. They want short declarative sentences, not convoluted policies and long sentences with several dependent clauses. In times of stress and insecurity, whether national or personal, only secondarily are they concerned with the actual, long-term implications and results of those decisions. Nor are they particularly interested in other people's priorities.
9
@Steve Fankuchen
I’ll make it simple.
How do we deal with republican attacks on immigrants, as an escape goat, to not actually provide proper societal governance. Basically it allows them to lay blame and continue to actually hurt everyday people. What do we do? Especially when many of these people are bigots and don’t even see it.
It's about time. This lawless administration needs to learn a lesson in Congressional oversight.
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@Chris Hunter
Republicans also need a lesson in reason and common sense. For more than a year they claimed that collusion was not a crime. Now they say the Mueller report proves that Trump in not guilty of collusion.
2
T for Trump. T for Trouble. T for Time to duck and cover GOP enablers.
14
Congressional oversight of executive high crimes and misdemeanors simply demonstrates that Congress is doing its Constitutional duty.
Too bad the Republican Senate has abandoned the Constitution for 3rd-world oligarchy.
Onward, Jerrold Nadler !
Shine some sunlight on this black hole of a Presidency.
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@Socrates
Trump cannot have associates testify because they would have to to something that Trump knows little about: the truth.
4
@Socrates
So far it's gone like this:
Democrats: "Here is a subpoena"
GOP/Trump: "Go pound sand"
Democrats: "Well, OK then. Sorry to have troubled you."
Hope it's different this time.
5
Crank up the heat. It is definitely time.
86
Issue the subpoenas now and get moving!
18
This smells of vindictive retaliation with little or no legislative function.
2
Where there’s smoke there’s probably something Trump & Company are hiding. There is plenty of smoke. Nothing to hide, no big deal. Something to hide, act like Trump.
8
Oh. So this is a vote to "authorize" issuing subpoenas, not a vote to actually issue the subpoenas, which may or may not be done soon if ever. Talk about "slow-walking." At this rate, witnesses will be dead or suffering dementia in nursing homes before Nadler subpoenas them. Justice delayed is justice denied. Just keep going through the motions, Democratic leaders. Your smug Republican colleagues and the White House are laughing at you and Democratic voters are ashamed of you. Really, if you're not going to get serious, just drop the whole "oversight" thing. Shut it down and declare, "The American voter will do the oversight in November next year. And BTW, read the Mueller Report."
39
@abigail49
slow and steady wins the race.
This presidency is the most criminal regime in American history. Every one of Trump's accomplices targeted by these subpoenas belongs in prison. Let's make this happen!
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"House Committee to Issue Blitz of Subpoenas, Raising Heat on Trump"
I hope the House Judiciary Committee will really unload on the Trump organization and I would like to see the contents of each subpoena because the American People need to be informed of just what the suspected crimes are and this is one way of doing that.
15
So here is the big question. If Trump is found guilty of a violation of the emoluments clause in the constitution, are those in power supporting him and blocking the investigation guilty of conspiracy during and after the fact?
17
Should have happened the day this congressional session began. Too little too late, I fear. We're in the last quarter of the game, and tradtional morality and democracy is still playing catch-up.
10
We will see if Trump will defy the Supreme Court re: Census question.
Doubtful that these subpoenas will get any different reception than the others. Would be great if the House could expedite these subpoenas in bulk.
If this is going to creep thru the courts, would be better to begin an impeachment inquiry (we all know we are heading this way because Trump is not going to answer or allow others to answer.).
An impeachment inquiry is NOT an impeachment. And, it would get this corruption and info in front of everyone for a change.
45
@Susan
Yes "it would get this corruption and info in front of everyone for a change". Which is exactly why it has to be done next summer when such information would actually have an effect on the elections - instead of being last summers old news.
9
Until they start issuing contempt of Congress and then enforcing the citation by levying fines (garnish federal paychecks of the miscreants) and/or arresting and sending to a DC jail until the subpoena is complied with, we are in a media generated circus that is in danger of missing the climax that will occur on or about 11-2-2020.
14
@Songsfrown
Agree.
Election day is Tuesday, November 3, 2020 (the first Tuesday after the first Monday of the month).
1
So I see a story about the Judiciary Committee issuing a new batch of subpoenas and I shrug. Another day, another subpoena
If the Judiciary Committee does not enforce these subpoenas with hefty fines and/or jail time, they will be ignored by the recipients. Holding these folks in contempt of Congress is a meaningless and laughable gesture.
23
Good. And if Trump tries to stop all of these people from complying with these subpoenas or not answering questions the House can begin impeachment proceedings.
We are still a rule of law country. When the president acts like a despot it's up to Congress to protect the Constitution.
24
Really like that photo of Mr. Nadler before the headline. Man's on a mission.
Good hunting sir. There surely is an abundance of opportunity to find those culprits that are trying to destroy our Democracy.
8
One way or the other Trump has to be stopped.
Finally, in New York, Cuomo just cleared the path to get those secret tax returns. They say NY State and City are very similar to Federal so this will do nicely.
It's time.
40
GOOD, and very appropriate. One of the major functions of the House is to maintain oversight of the Executive.
This is quite clear in our Constitution and Trump refuses to allow the House to perform its function. HE IS NOT ABOVE THE LAW and everything the House is doing is necessary.
We are faced with a progressively perverted SCOTUS which should be apolitical. With the appointment of Kavanaugh that remains in question - and the SCOTUS is our final arbiter of Constitutional Justice.
The huge amount of smoke surrounding Trump cannot be ignored. There is undoubtedly an equally huge fire that he is trying to hide. WE, THE PEOPLE, need ALL available information regarding probable high crimes and treason.
9
Yes, keep the pressure up on this Administration. Time to reassert the “rule of law” , that which is most sacrosanct to this nation and which the Trump administration disregards and makes a mockery of.
5
Donald scoured the country to find someone who was low enough to violate court orders and the law to run border operations as he wanted. With McAleenan, he may have overshot the mark.
But I'm happy to hear the House is looking at "offers of presidential pardons to Department of Homeland Security officials or employees."
Let's see how insidious Trump's direct involvement in this national disgrace really is.
6
When are the democrats going to get on with dealing with the problems of the country and get over Trump? They are wasting time, money and energy for what end? Get Trump out of office? What good does that do? Meanwhile the country's problems just grow and they do nothing about them!
@T. McKinney Sorry that dog won't hunt. It's time the GOP Senate took up the over 100 Bills the Democratic House already passed!
7
Then Democrats have no other strategy to defeat Trump in the next election. Within the Democratic Party the different races, genders, ethnicity and character are all at ods with each other and they will bring their party down.
Too little, too late. Pelosi missed her chance and I, for one, don’t think she is interested in real action. More toothless subpoenas, more stonewalling. Pelosi seems to just be interested in running out the clock and to avoid taking any real action before the election. People are tired of outrage. We want results.
3
Alas, this, too, will go nowhere.
1
It’s the second to last paragraph that is impactful. The list on subpoenas includes jared kushner!
His “loyalty” to his father-in-law will certainly be tested.
My guess is that when jared feels the pressure of a federal indictment getting closer jared will defend only jared.
Ex campaign manager lewandowski is another weak link that DJT must worry about.
4
It's about time! May the deluge begin and melt this wicked Administration. I hope it's not too late.
Taking so long to push back against blatant contempt of Congress, concentration camps, self-dealing, emoluments, robbing the till while smirking in our faces, 11,000 lies, defaming the press, refusing to produce tax returns...argh.
We need to fight back with everything we've got. This is like WWII and we are the partisans. No time for any accommodations or attempting to seem reasonable to the moderates. Commitment and sincerity are far more inspiring than wishy-washy equivocation.
If we hit every green light on our way to impeachment we have about five minutes to spare to get this monster out of office and save our democracy.
3
If I were to read a fiction detailing what is current going on, I wouldn't have believed it. We are living in twilight of a surreal world. He even has altered the dictionary of English language. To wit, "Fake news" means credible news to intelligent people, "alternate facts" mean lies, history is what he or his minions utter. What has come to our country!
6
What good will it do to issue a blitz of subpoenas if everyone ignores them and refuses to show up to testify? What has the House done to the people who were issued subpoenas and never showed up? Were they arrested? Fined? Was anything at all done? Sadly, the answer is no.
People are sick of words, subpoenas, and interviews of House members by talking heads on cable news. People want to see action taken by our elected officials. We want to see results.
13
Let's see how Mr. 'Maximum Pressure' likes it.
Please please please start impeachment proceedings.
11
Jerold Nadler is clearly not Peter Rodino nor Sam Ervin ready for convincing effective American mass media primetime Congressional investigating and questioning.
Neither are Maxine Waters and Elijah Cummings. Nor the chair of House Intelligence.
2
@Blackmamba
Adam Schiff is the House Intelligence chairman.
Former Repulican Congressman Justin Amash is the gold standard for
preserving, protecting and defending the American people and their Constitution from the depredations of Donald Trump, Benjamin Netanyahu and Vladimir Putin.
Amash is an ethnic Arab Palestinian immigrant heir.
2
It is about time. Of course, Trump will order all these people not to comply, and the GOP will be silent. But it is a step in the right direction.
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@Paul heimer
Yes Paul. And the Democrats will issue a strongly worded letter, and then it will leave the news cycle and be forgotten.
12
It will be interesting to see what will come of all this labor. The weight of multiple accusations may be much less than a single compelling piece of evidence.
46
@Marty Rowland, Ph.D., P.E. Evidence like dead children held in your custody? Or would it be evidence like calling for a treasonous attack on our nation on national TV? Or would it be explicit written evidence of a criminal conspiracy against our electoral system? Or would it be daily evidence of corruption and receipt of foreign payments in violation of the emoluments clause of the Constitution? No, no amount of evidence is ever going to dissuade supporters of an authoritarian, racist, rapist dictatorship conspiring daily to enrich their criminal gang in league with other global oligarchical criminal conspiracies.
29