The day that DOJ fails to respond, the House needs to file a motion to compel in Federal Court, and ask for fees. They also need to cut the budget for everyone connected to the failure to respond. Congress could also start to move to hold DOJ in criminal contempt, and require DOJ to try to get a protective order.
Impeach Barr.
Yeah, piss off Nadler and everyone else on the Dem committees until every last one of them starts screaming for impeachment investigations to begin.
Now thatâs a Trump strategy I can support!
Oh, and hereâs Hogan Gidley doing his best Lindsey Graham impression:
I now know what a Government run by WWE wrestlers would look like. Here we have the insults, the childish taunts and blowhardiness, the braggadocio and frat-boy type behavior encapsulated by one of those staged performances. And, in many ways, this Administration -though all too real -doesnât seem to have any real heft to it.
Barr has physical possession of the report. I suppose Trump is empowered to dictate Barrâs response to the subpoena. So Barr is told to refuse to provide whatâs demanded. Now Nadler has to hold him in contempt. Gonna get messy.
The WH âwantsâ impeachment.
No, he clearly doesnât. Every action Trump has taken has been to try to stop the investigation and to stop any progress towards impeachment. If he really wanted impeachment, he wouldnât have tried to suppress the Mueller report. And he wouldnât have tried to have Mueller fired.
Trump doesnât really trust Mitch McConnellâs caucus to have his back. Nor should he. Trump has stepped on a lot of those guys. And theyâll turn on him in a heartbeat if they think itâs politically advantageous to do so. And that would be accomplished if so much evidence of wrongdoing were made public to the point where Trumpâs magic 42 percent approval rating finally started to erode.
Nobody is bulletproof when it comes to approval ratings.
Just pretend they donât exist.
Iâve seen people do that with their bills. They usually end up being kicked out of their place of residence.
Unfortunately, thatâs probably the right analogy⌠Because it can take a long fucking time to evict someone⌠Theyâre just trying to run the clock, they know they can tie this shit up in the courts for ages.
Pity Congress never got around to making the Sergeant-at-Arms into a paramilitary organization, with large units ready to deploy to enforce their orders.
Which means that the entire rest of his presidency will be taken up with this shit.
NowâŚhereâs where you start throwing people in jail. Câmon guys. All it takes is guts.
Including his second term.
House should just zero out funding for the White House and anyone who works there until there is compliance.
Sure stevie sure.
Serious Q: what happens if you refuse a subpeona? Can the Dems provide legal leverage to force them, or does it become a long and drawn out legal court battle that goes to SC?
And whatâs going to make them do what the law tells them to? They know thereâs no recourse. Iâm not trying to troll, Tena. Iâm not even trying to be pessimistic. Just pragmatic. I mean what incentive do they have to comply with any norm or law? Nothing suggests that complying is in their best interest. And everything, thus far, suggests they can break laws, lie, and act in the most egregious and insolent manner imaginable and they and skate by. Yes, 2018 was a major check. But for them 2020 exists as a real opportunity to secure total power. And we now have an AG who will obviously not prioritize, or provide the necessary support for, actions needed to maintain the integrity of 2020.
Impeachment would be good for Trump because heâd have another shot at yelling âExoneration!â after the Senate fails to convict. Iâm not sure theyâre thinking that far ahead. Itâs just reflexive denial of anything the House wants.
Impeachment is not the only recourse though. Document subpoenas will move through the courts, and the WH canât stonewall that process except through executive privilege. The courts can override that, if theyâre making excessive claims.
This is exactly like Whinyâs excuse for stiffing his contractors.
âMr. Trump feels like heâs paid enough.â
Iâm on tenterhooks waiting for the polls that will be taken after Easter.
The numbers will tell us a lot about what will happen next.