I just hope Pompeo doesn’t start a war 30 mins before Mueller is scheduled to appear.
It would fit this maladministration…
"He added that Mueller is still a Department of Justice employee, and will continue to be for “a matter of weeks.”
I have to wonder if they have or will sequester Mueller from his materials during this time. Also have they threaten him in some fashion. They are perfectly happy to trash entire careers and benefits over night. Though somehow, I do not think that worries Mueller that much.
There is zero doubt that Trump will attempt to block Mueller from testifying. They’ll wait until the last minute to pull something, but pull something they will.
It shouldn’t. I doubt his pension from running the FBI is in any jeopardy. He is truly a man with nothing to lose for standing up and doing the right thing. His silence so far is a-thunderous.
“I don’t think there is any legal way that the President could stop him.”
That presupposes Trump is concerned about the legality of what he does. Again, Trump plays chess while the House plays checkers.I don’t think threatening Bobby Three Sticks is a good idea for them.
I expect Mueller will testify about the actual report without hyperbole or exaggeration. That’s all that is really needed here. What’s in the report is bad enough.
The question is whether he will use plain English or resort to lawyerly caveats for everything. He has to make it accessible or he will fail to get his point across. A good prosecutor knows how to do this.
So, it’s ok if Barr refuses to show up before the House to answer questions. But, really what control does tRump have over Mueller testifying?
Mueller is still an employee of the Executive Branch. Trump is his superior. While Trump may issue directives that conflict with the law, it isn’t within the purview of the employee to conclude an order is illegal, barring of course orders to do something glaringingly wrong such as commit a murder, arson, etc. It is not up to Mueller to resolve the legitimacy of a claim of Executive privilege, that is for others to do. If Trump tells him not to testify he does what Trump orders until being told to do otherwise by an empowered body overruling Trump.
True, but he can have his say, just as Sally Yates did when she was asked to testify before a House committee:
Quote is from a letter sent by her lawyer.
And the DOJ will crap itself
Were Sally Yates still employed by the government, and called to testify today, I think what followed would be far different than her uncontested participation two years ago. I don’t recall Trump making any concerted effort to prevent her testimony. Today he would. And, as we see with others, it’s doubtful she’d find herself sitting in a chair before committee without a preceding legal battle ordering it.
Yes, I’d describe the effort he did make as tentative or half-hearted.
Nadler impresses me less and less every day.
He’ll be more impressive next week. Or in June. Maybe July.
What can they do to Mueller if he decides to testify without Dear Leader’s permission?
Nadler has made some good moves of late. Once that contempt resolution has passed, we basically have an impeachment inquiry for all intents and purposes. The resolution is framed in a way to give the Dems the maximalist legal position to justify holding Barr in contempt, and impeachment of Trump and other federal officials is expressly mentioned.
Next, it does look like he has moved quite a bit down the road of securing Mueller’s testimony. That would be a very important step for Dems to gain control of the narrative here.
In addition, despite her continued rhetorical missteps and inconsistency, Speaker Pelosi has given much more leeway to her committee chairs to pursue action. She’s slowly finding out that there’s no penalty for getting tough on Trump officials and that her base needs Dems to be making progress on the question of accountability and oversight.
Regardless the reality and conclusion, consider how this White House thinks. It might be informative to appreciate the level of paranoia and what they will try. Not saying it will work for them, but it may tell you where they will go. They are currently exceeding my original appreciation for what they would do and just how they would go about it. Trump world is hovering or in the zone for trying to fix their problems with noisy hammers. They really need something slicker. But they seem to not be capable.