House Demands Docs From DOJ On Trump-era Records Seizure Of Congress, Journos | Talking Points Memo

[Kurtywerty]

I am reminded of the awkward moments in Bill Barr’s conformation hearing, when the junior senator from Ca, now vice president , was asking him about this, and he stammered awhile. This will be lit.

[trnc]

@irasdad

Get Apple, Microsoft, Google, Sprint, etc. in front of the committee, put them under oath, immunize them against violating any gag orders currently in place, and the list of victims that Trump politcially ratf*cked will prove utterly jaw-dropping.

Sorry, I’m not connecting the dots here - presumably, all of the targets would be listed in the DOJ orders sent to those companies, so what would be the point of having them testify? Or do you think they were told to hand over data of people not listed in the DOJ docs?

[trnc]

@fgs

The Justice Committee should formally, legally subpoena the records, and the AG should immediately and fully comply with the lawful subpoena before anyone in Rump’s orbit has a chance to file their bullshit motion.

I suspect there’s little chance that the DOJ could produce all the documents and hand them over before some FOTD republican attorney could file a motion to block, but I also suspect any motion to block wouldn’t survive very long.

[irasdad]

The only reason we know about records seized from reporters, McGahn, Schiff, Swalwell, staffs, and families is because the gag orders from early in the Trump administration expired, and people subsequently came forward to reveal them, voluntarily, once informed.

• What additional gag orders from that time period don’t we know about, because the subjects chose not to come forward after DOJ privately revealed the facts to them?

• Are there any gag orders from that time period which have not yet expired?

• What additional surveillance since then – perhaps as late as January 2021 – don’t we know about, because gag orders are still in place?

It may be (and, given what we know about the brazen illegality of Trump and his sycophants, one might even say “likely”) that McGahn, Schiff, Swalwell, et al. are merely the tip of the iceberg.

Unless and until we get to the absolute bottom of what’s still out there – unknown because of either continuing gag orders or additional subjects who remain silent, for whatever reason, even though gag orders have expired – Dems will continue to see this only ‘through a looking glass darkly’.

[trnc]

Awesome! Thanks for the additional info.

[tpr]

sometimes lawmakers commit crimes

I hope this is foreshadowing, because I bet we could all name a dozen or so Republicans who would be facing imprisonment right now if they didn’t have their hands clamped around the neck of government.