I any normal world, but this is the Barr DOJ, which is always happy to obstruct Congress. They could refuse to turn them over to appear. But I agree with @occamscoin, they are most likely to plead the Fifth. Although technically, they can still be required to appear and invoke the Fifth for each individual question, like Congress used to make the Mafia guys do. That would be fun.
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I hope the " Lock him up!!" kids are there… great for the evening news!
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They’re planning a whistle protest. First of many the next 17 months, I hope.
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So Rudy is now a mob lawyer?
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My first thought
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I’ve been asking the same for weeks, in fact asked again today. For such a large bagpiping idiot he sure is able to hide a lot lately.
@mattshuham Any idea where they were flying to? Can’t seem to find where they were headed.
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…“hundreds of people will blow whistles Friday at the corner of Angela Boulevard and Eddy Street to protest a talk on campus by U.S. Attorney General William Barr.”…
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Damn, wish I could be there!
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Anyone else read this article in the NYT suggesting the House play hardball and arrest Rudy?
The author did make some good points:
It could work because Rudy is not part of the administration. The main points of the article if you don’t have access:
Facilities in the Capitol or one of the House office buildings can be made into a makeshift holding cell if necessary. Of course, arrestees will ask the courts to set them free, but the case should be relatively open-and-shut against them: They will have committed a contempt in refusing to turn over subpoenaed materials, and the House has the power to hold contemnors. Moreover, time would work in the House’s favor here: The unpleasantness of being in custody while the issue was being litigated might make some contemnors decide to cooperate.
The House arresting someone would be explosive and clearly should not be undertaken lightly. But the very explosiveness of it would be a way for the House to signal the seriousness of White House obstructionism to the public. Moreover, having arrest as an option of last resort might also make less extreme options more palatable.
One of those less extreme options would be using the power of the purse. The government is currently funded through Nov. 21. There is nothing stopping the House from putting a provision in the next funding bill that zeros out funding for the White House Counsel’s Office. House leadership could announce that, so long as the counsel’s office is producing bad legal argumentation designed for no purpose other than protecting the president from constitutional checks, the American people should not have to pay for it.
Of course, the Senate could try to strip that rider, or President Trump could veto the bill, but if the House held firm, their choice would be to mollify the House by turning over subpoenaed information, accept the defunding of the counsel’s office, or accept the partial government shutdown that would come with failure to pass the appropriations bill.
In the end, whether the House wins that fight, like whether it wins a fight over arresting a contemnor, would be a function of which side best convinces the public. But President Trump is deeply unpopular, and the public supports impeachment. If necessary, the House should be willing to have these fights.
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The pair hadn’t been expected to show up for the depositions…
Now they have the perfect excuse… they’re in jail!
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They were literally making contributions under the entity names - wait for it - “Loan Crime Investigative Group” and “Fraud Guarantee”.
You can’t make this stuff up, lol.
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It is becoming obvious that Ukraine dealt with its corruption problem by sending “their very best people” to the US, directly in to the arms of Trump & Co.
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Right. I’m picturing panicked checking of your iPhone clock every 30 seconds as you desperately wait for the announcement for Group 1 to board, and then suddenly there you are, getting perp-walked past the Cinnabons, airbud kiosks, and popcorn stands of Terminal C.
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Unfortunately it is the Feds that got them.
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Okay so this seems to be the key question - there has to be a reason why the Justice Department would arrest these guys, other than that they broke a law. It sure feels like it is to keep them from testifying and cutting a deal with Congress. But I don’t understand how it can prevent that just because they are in jail…
They look like they can’t spare half a wit between them.
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It appears the impeachment inquiry subpoenaed Parnas and Furman this morning, even though they were already arrested when the subpoena was sent:
https://twitter.com/ZoeTillman/status/1182330873691152384?s=20
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Caught while trying to leave the country on a tip from Bill Barr?
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They were at airport about to flee.
