Discussion: READ: Judge Smacks Down Trump Bid To Halt House Subpoena To Accountant

[ralph_vonholst]

No idea.

[chelsea530]

Michael Schmidt was making the same claim on Deadline White House today.

I don’t really like that guy.

BTW, Jeff Daniels was a guest, and he had several interesting things to say. Catch the video if you can.

[sparrowhawk]

At times, Mehta’s attitude toward Trump’s argument bleeds through the text. In one footnote, he calls an argument by Trump’s attorney that Congress can only investigate government “agencies” and therefore not the president “artificial line-drawing,” and says that argument “is antithetical to the checks and balances inherent in the Constitution’s design.”

The only allowing investigations of “agencies” thing is nonsense on its face. There are no agencies in the Constitution. There are all creations of the executive branch in order to manage the different facets of the job. I don’t know the details if they are created by statute or just by CiC whim, but the Constitution grants investigative powers to the legislative branch for the executive branch, end of story. That includes the agencies and the president.

ETA: Not being a lawyer, I can’t say, but it seems to me that any lawyer trying to make that argument ought to be sanctioned because it defies even a modicum of legal basis.

[sniffit]

Faux News KKKomment boards are so fun and predictable.

This is apparently a galactic outrage because A and B.

Anyone care to guess what A and B are?

[sparrowhawk]

Faux News KKKomment boards are so fun and predictable.

This is apparently a galactic outrage because A and B.

Anyone care to guess what A and B are?

Hillary and Clinton?

[occamscoin]

Hopefully, Mazars will immediately comply with the subpoena and not wait for the appeals court to issue an injunction rendering it moot.

I doubt they will: as a mundane matter it’s bad for business. Who wants to use an accountant that coughs up the docs sooner than they have to?

[ralph_vonholst]

Burns and Allen?

[squirreltown]

hillAry and oBama?

[pluckyinky]

Also, from a legal perspective, this wasn’t a difficult decision. Trump’s and his lawyers’ arguments were just short of sanctionably frivolous. These suits are meant to delay and intimidate, and maybe Trump is stupid enough to believe SCOTUS will do whatever he asks, regardless of the law

Oh, I don’t think this is a maybe. I’m sure his thinking goes something like, “There’s five Republicans on the Court. I put two of them up there. They owe me.”

[khyber900]

Who wants an accountant that works for shady clients? Greater risks of the fed gov’t coming down on you or making mistakes that get you in trouble. The company I work for would never go near a firm that covered for a crook like Trump. Best business move for this firm is to comply. Then they look ethically cleaner, like a firm weeding out a bad client as opposed to being owned by one.

[jtx]

There were some Dems aboard too.

Richard Lugar's funeral: VP Mike Pence, Chief Justice John Roberts among...

[triletter]

Because slow and steady puts the Don in a tizzy? Actually, it shows the D’s are patient and provides those “independent fence sitters” that this isn’t a lynching, but a slow methodical process. It can and will change public perceptions.

[rob_beatty_walters]

Not based on current case law, but the Supreme Court will likely be the final arbiter. As I read executive privilege, just like the attorney-client privilege, it doesn’t shield criminal behavior.

[rollinnolan]

Michael Schmidt was making the same claim on Deadline White House today.

I don’t really like that guy.

I don’t like him either. OTOH Chris Matthews said last week that he was his favorite reporter. My husband had to remind me not to yell at the TV. Turned the channel instead. I seldom watch Chris but it never ends well when I do.

[squirreltown]

Yep. And the first time they rule against him he’s going to look like he just met Putin at Helsinki.

[justruss]

When your _president believes he is omnipotent, all laws are beneath him and open to his personal interpretation and abuse.

I am sure that is in the Constitution somewhere.

[ralph_vonholst]

If not there then in the golf course ground rules at his course near Mar a Lago.

[chelsea530]

It was already reported that Roberts sat by himself, spoke briefly with Pence and his Mother, and that was that.

[slbinva]

Looks like a young guy, too. Excellent!!

[sparrowhawk]

When your president believes he is omnipotent, all laws are beneath him and open to his personal interpretation and abuse.

I am sure that is in the Constitution somewhere.

Clearly must be in the Constitution the lawyer was working from, because it’s just as sensible as trying to limit Congress’ investigative authority to just executive agencies based on the real one.