Discussion: Will McGahn's No-Show Tip Dems Towards Impeachment?

sandi · May 21, 2019, 1:34pm

Assuming we could impeach & remove, he would then be pardoned by Pence & get off scot-free. These are perilous times with perilous choices.

keninmn · May 21, 2019, 1:34pm

After three years of nonstop Russiagate hyperventilating, the only logical conclusion is that Nancy Pelosi is just fine with our government being run by Vladimir Putin for the next nineteen months (at a minimum!), which of course makes her another of Putin’s Puppets…

paul_lukasiak · May 21, 2019, 1:35pm

does a court isseued writ of Habeas Corpus have the power to compel release given that its ‘contempt’, and its the HOUSE, as opposed to the Executive branch??

Yes.

That being said, in past instances where inherent contempt has been used and habeas invoked, the courts have generally sided with Congress.

And insofar as the case against McGahn is pretty much open and shut in terms of refusal to show up to answer questions for which there is no “privilege” claim possible, I think that the courts would defer to Congress’ judgment

castor_troy · May 21, 2019, 1:35pm

That’s had me scratching my head too. Yes, pre-impeachment, it cost the GOP a bunch of seats in the House, but the next election post-impeachment they did just fine.

Especially in this day and age, get an impeachment through sooner rather than later, the Senate can deny it, and it’ll be old news by next year.

Hell, by the week after, the way Trump makes new scandals, it’ll be long forgotten.

rhs1963 · May 21, 2019, 1:36pm

CNN sucked off Trumpf, too by airing his hysterical rallies in full while giving HRC 30 seconds. The CNN weasels may be still atoning but Wolf Putzer still makes me gag.

lestatdelc · May 21, 2019, 1:36pm

And a reminder…

keninmn · May 21, 2019, 1:36pm

I only propose it as a third option. Time will tell. I hope they prove it wrong…

thunderclapnewman · May 21, 2019, 1:38pm

Pardons may not be granted in cases of impeachment.

nemo · May 21, 2019, 1:40pm

Ok, so:

It is far from clear that Democrats would suffer electorally from a decision to begin impeachment. On the one hand, it would agitate the Republican base (but do so a full year and a half before the election); on the other hand, not to impeach would put in question the viability of the Democratic party as a party of opposition.
It is very clear that the constitutional democracy will in effect be suspended for the duration of the Trump administration if there is no impeachment–and that a suspension of democracy will not result in a prolongation of the status quo but would only lead to more authoritarianism.

I think it’s make or break time. Either we stand up to Trump or we don’t. If Dems don’t stand up, I can’t quite see the point of them.

castor_troy · May 21, 2019, 1:41pm

So he jumps ship just beforehand, like Nixon.

I’m actually fine with that, he’ll spend the rest of his life with lawyers anyway for all the stuff they can’t pardon.

Just wish Pence would offer it like today, so our long national nightmare can get a break.

lestatdelc · May 21, 2019, 1:41pm

The fact that Nixon resigned just ahead of impeachment, is the technicality that allowed Ford to pardon him.

bunnyvelour · May 21, 2019, 1:41pm

To borrow a line from Selena Meyer from Veep: “We’re ten centimeters dilated!..we’re fully effaced!..This Congress is crowning!!”

IT’S TIME!!! Open a friggin’ inquiry!!!

rhs1963 · May 21, 2019, 1:42pm

IMO Clinton was impeached because he lied about a BJ. Lots of guys thought, “good for Bill, he got a free hummer” and that’s no reason to impeach him. Trumpf has committed real crimes and sold his country to Putin, to me that’s a world of treacherous difference.

paul_lukasiak · May 21, 2019, 1:43pm

why not do both?

I think the hammer should be brought down on McGahn, because by not showing up at all, he really screwed up here, and is the perfect vehicle for Congress to assert its powers. Let Trump cry all he wants to – McGahn should sit in “congressional jail” until he comes clean on everything unless and until the Supreme Court says otherwise.

lestatdelc · May 21, 2019, 1:46pm

This is the dynamic I think gets almost no consideration in all these discussions, particularly on the media heather gab-fest shows.

lestatdelc · May 21, 2019, 1:47pm

The other point is that Clinton’s impeachment are a slam-dunk refutation of the mindless talking point the GOP have been trotting out recently about there being “no underlying crime”.

What was the underlying crime Clinton was impeached over?

Getting a consensual blowjob?

castor_troy · May 21, 2019, 1:45pm

From your fingertips to Pelosi’s eyes. It would break us. The 2018 wave was precisely to challenge and stand up to the motherfucker.

And this 100% blockade needs decisive and clear action showing that we’re standing up to them.

joce_m · May 21, 2019, 1:47pm

(It’s Gilded Age…)

emiliano4 · May 21, 2019, 1:52pm

I once (before the internet) was in a seminar with a man from a very poor country. He had just arrived to the U.S… I took him to a supermarket the next day and when he looked up and down the shelves, he was so struck he was speechless for ten minutes.

Imagine Trump’s crimes and deceit as a satanic version of supermarket shelves. And he is doing all he can to keep us out.

But try to picture how we would feel upon seeing and hearing with our eyes and ears the EVIL of Donald Trump. Because Barr and Trump have succeeded in gaming the U.S. system of jurisprudence into closing the door on access TO the evil,

And we of little faith, in the resulting vacuum, busy ourselves in mental gymnastics revolving around The POWER of Donald J. Trump. If he could have someone read our desperate posts today he would add another yacht to Barr’s bonus.

inversion · May 21, 2019, 1:52pm

Does Cohen’s (alleged) statement count or do I have to wait for him to actually say it?