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

[c_stedman]

Thank you for setting me straight. The fact that she’s a woman makes it sweeter than ever.

[occamscoin]

Pretty sure a couple of people owe me an apology for opining that the mere fact that Congress attested that it was for a legislative purpose should be enough for the court,

You won’t get one. Their response to the judge’s opinion on that is already posted in this thread, and the response is a gish gallop of whataboutism.

[lastroth]

Snarky message-board poster isn’t a job description?

They’re call social media directors, and the good ones can hid the snark in what seems to be a straight forward message. Sort of like an Easter egg in a video game.

[skeptical]

Actually, I was wrong. The judge is male.

[castor_troy]

and maybe even Griswold v Connecticut while they’re at it.

Trump decided to do that one in because Chevy Chase was on SNL, and SNL keeps making fun of him.

[ronbyers]

By Trump legal team standards an argument that was rejected 160 years ago must sound like a fresh idea. After all isn’t Trump the guy who says he is entitled to rule by divine right? Isn’t that what Falwell and the evangelicals argue?

[c_stedman]

OH, MAN ! Make up our mind!

[lastroth]

Seems as if the appearance of the Chief Justice flying on the VP’s plane with the Senate leader is problematic.

Lugar was a Senator from IN for something like 30 years. Pence is from IN, and Roberts I believe was born and raised there. It maybe shady, but better than the gov’t spending for 3 separate planes. Maybe they had a proctor on board so they couldn’t plot or plan?

[castor_troy]

They’re call social media directors

I must be old…

[dave_mb]

Is this common? Seems as if the appearance of the Chief Justice flying on the VP’s plane with the Senate leader is problematic.

Yes, it’s common. Picture a scenario where John McCain died and the funeral was in Arizona and Obama was President. If Obama flew on Air Force One to the funeral, it would be standard procedure for him to invite other Washington dignitaries to fly on the plane with him.

It’s just Trump’s corruption that makes this look squalid.

[c_stedman]

See, see!

[RedAnne]

Or, keeping with pop culture GOT: DRACARYS

[slbinva]

At what point does POTUS become a flight risk?

Where would he go that he wouldn’t wear out his welcome really fast?

[sniffit]

That quote right there is like the judge yelling on the courthouse steps that the GOP’s real game here was trying to force the Dems into declaring formal impeachment proceedings, because it’s abundantly clear that the GOP and Trumpland fervently believe it would be suicide and make their jobs running in 2020 way easier.

[skeptical]

I saw an article elsewhere where the judge’s name was listed as ANITA Mehta. The correct name is AMIT Mehta as listed here.

[lastroth]

After all isn’t Trump the guy who says he is entitled to rule by divine right? Isn’t that what Falwell and the evangelicals argue?

I don’t think they’ve gotten to the ‘divine right’ pass yet, they’re still testing their ‘chosen one’ for legitimacy.

[nymund]

Mexican no doubt. You know what they’re like!

[paul_lukasiak]

first off, there was no TRO issued against Mazar’s.

Plaintiffs filed an Application for a Temporary Restraining Order and Motion for
Preliminary Injunction. … The Application asked the court to enter an order “prohibiting
Defendants from enforcing or complying with Chairman Cummings’ subpoena so that the Court
can decide Plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction.”… The Oversight
Committee also agreed to postpone the date for Mazars to produce records until seven days after
the court ruled on Plaintiffs’ motion. See id. That agreement made it unnecessary for the court to
enter a temporary restraining order.

now, I am not a lawyer, so correct me if I’m wrong, but if I am subpoenaed to provide documents on a certain date, I can provide them prior to that date and be in compliance with the subpoena.

The only thing that kept mazar’s from complying with the original request for documents was the lack of a subpoena. That subpoena was dated for document production for April 29. And while Cumming made an agreement to delay the date on which documents would have to be produced without the committee taking further action, it does not appear that he withdrew the original subpoena.

So it seems to me that if Mazar’s wanted to, they could get away with handing over the subpoenaed document right away.

[ralph_vonholst]

Perhaps because congress will be adjourning Wednesday until after Memorial Day?

[khyber900]

I haven’t read the whole opinion yet but there is a lot to like in the quotes cited in the article. Not only did the Judge move swiftly, the Judge also reaffirmed Congress’ Art 1 power and argued (as I have) that the courts have no business questioning Congress’ motives for using its investigative powers. Congress has the right to start a ‘witch hunt’ if it wants to so long as it has a facially acceptable basis to assert its investigative powers.

Hopefully, Mazars will immediately comply with the subpoena and not wait for the appeals court to issue an injunction rendering it moot. What I don’t want is for Trump to be able to use these disingenuous arguments to tee up ways to expand power and limit Congressional authority to bad faith conservative judges, particularly at the SCOTUS. I think that’s one of the bigger risks of Pelosi’s ‘let things play out in the courts’ strategy.