House Intel Committee chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) said Monday morning that former top aide to John Bolton Charles Kupperman’s delay of his testimony “may warrant a contempt proceeding.”
I am giving Schiff an A+ for strategy and timing.
I seem to recall that the Federal Courts have consistently declined to interpret Congressional rules for Congress.
As for the so-called immunity defense. I don’t think a witness before Congress has standing to raise such an issue on behalf of the Executive. If the Executive want’s to raise this defense, they need to move to block witnesses, not the witnesses themselves. At least, that is how I see it.
In other words, the witness doesn’t have standing to ask the Judicial branch if he or she must appear before a separate co-equal branch; and the Judicial branch should rule that they don’t have Constitutional authority over who appears before Congress.
No objections!
“…may warrant”
There is no “may” here. They should hammer him until he begs to testify. Maybe this would prevent the next person up from playing games.
Wow, what piss poor lawyers this guy has.
One, the matter of the validity of executive privilege in impeachment proceedings involving illegal activities was dispositively ruled on during Watergate, in favor of congress: there is no executive privilege in such matters, period.
Two, the separate ruling last week by judge Howell only reinforced this holding, or at least the legal thinking behind it.
And three, there is no such thing as ungranted immunity. WTF?!? It can’t be claimed, only granted.
I want to start seeing some of these people in jail, for criminal contempt.
Judge Howell ruled thusly last week, in a Marbury vs. Madison kind of ruling where she held that so long as congress is acting constitutionally the courts can’t weigh in on its internal matters, including its rules. In this ruling she not only upheld the legitimacy of these impeachment proceedings and all subpeonas issuing from it, but the power of the courts to do so. Double strike against the WH.
Contempt proceedings will deepen Kupperman’s precarious legal position. As Chief U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell has ruled in the case involving the grand jury materials from the Mueller investigation –this is a legitimate impeachment inquiry. It is difficult to imagine how another judge would see such a well-formed opinion differently.
Otherwise, Kupperman had better have deep pockets to keep fighting a losing fight.
The GOP game here is simply to delay the proceedings until the middle of next year’s election campaign. I am certain that all these cases will end up before the Supreme Court, argued at the end of the April sitting, and decided on the last day of the term, June 30. And I am fairly sure that they will end in a “victory” for the Congress. Which will result in either (a) the Democrats dropping the whole thing or (b) the House conducting hearings over the summer, with breaks for the two party conventions, and competing with the Olympic games. The vote to impeach would then come in September, and Mitch would make sure that the Senate trial would be held after the election … at which time he would say that the people had spoken and there was no need to go further whether Trump was reelected or not.
I’m with you: Schiff should simply state that anyone who defies a subpoena will be automatically charged with contempt — Period. No ifs, ands or buts. — and then DO IT!
Along with that I’d like to see monetary sanctions and jail go right along with it.
This obstruction and delay has gone on long enough. It’s time for the proverbial “No more Mr. Nice Guy” approach. Sledgehammer these bastards!
That’s the plan because it’s all they’ve got, but it won’t work. I’m getting the impression that the House has enough evidence to call a vote right now, if they wanted to. Speaker Pelosi will delay for a month to build the case further, but I think she wants to wrap before the end of the year, running with whatever they can pull together by then.
Investigations can continue throughout next year, but it’s better to impeach now and throw it over to the Senate right after the end of year holidays. Pelosi won’t walk into the trap of dragging it out too deep into the 2020 election cycle, so the R’s can claim it’s meant only to influence the election instead of being a normal oversight function of Congress.
There is enough evidence in the public record now and it has been there for over two years. It’s not a question of sufficient evidence. It’s whether the public will accept the verdict when its delivered. In order to effect that result, Pelosi wisely wants to build the case in the public’s mind by holding open hearings once she’s lined up the witnesses and deposed them grand-jury style. This is a necessary process, because if the public thinks it’s unjust, they will express their displeasure at the ballot box come November 2020.
Whatever Kupperman “has”, I sincerely hope it is as well known as Babe Ruth’s home run totals, by the time his fucking lawyering gambit runs its course.
And about as useless.
I feel one of major reasons for the additional impeachment investigations is to discover who else, both within and outside of the government, is complicit. Trump’s outrages would go no where if there weren’t people willing to carry them out. Setting those people up for indictments under the next Dem AG is a good reason to keep the impeachment inquiry going.
It is my understanding that Kupperman is still an employee of the NSA. Therefore Trump’s claim of executive privilege trying to stop all people from testifying if legal can be used by Kupperman if he so chooses. Obviously Trump has expanded the claim of executive privilege to that of king so if the courts uphold it we do no longer have a democracy.
But the point is the Trump has already raised the issue and Kupperman’s argument is needs to know for his own protection if the claim is valid.
But I believe you are right that the judicial branch cannot dictate or interpret congressional procedures or rules determining how congress is run.
Great, Kupperman’s lawyers can now have more billable hours from the court appeal and the contempt proceeding.
I wouldn’t feel over confident if I was Kupperman’s lawyer, making that argument.
Trump’s claim of Executive Privilege to include people who were not consulting with the President, isn’t going to hold up. His whole argument there flies right in the face of all the precedents regarding Executive Privilege.
Which is why Schiff is responding by considering contempt options. He is letting the Court and Kupperman know, that Congress can and will punish him for not appearing.
So, its a pretty weak Executive Privilege defense vs. a very strong Congressional powers argument. I am going to bet on the Congressional powers side of that one.
Schiff is doing the right thing here…he’s signaling that they won’t allow witnesses to skate lightly, that this is a very serious proceeding, and that the courts must rule expeditiously in order to allow the impeachment process to go forward. I think he’s holding back on immediate contempt to try to get a quick judgement that witnesses have no right to ignore Congressional subpoenas…that may get wrapped up further in appeals, but such a ruling will wear down a lot of witnesses who might otherwise refuse to testify.
Pushing on the courts will also help get the rest of the subpoenas in court now through the system…at that point the Trump administration can decide if it’s going to go full lawless and ignore the courts as well. Some of them definitely will, but I think a lot will cooperate at that point. Congressional contempt doesn’t have a lot of power behind it, a court decision is a lot more powerful (as it was in Watergate). It means a bit of patience, but hopefully not too much, Howell ruled quickly and other judges have her example to follow now.
I completely agree with everything in your comment except for the reality that Republicans have managed to corrupt our justice system by having a Republican and not a conservative majority on the Supreme Court. That is if you read the constitution, the federalist papers and even prior rulings of the 5 Republican justices on the Supreme Court, Trump’s executive privilege claim is without merit but again we have a Republican Supreme Court with 5 justices who will do almost anything to help the Republican Party regardless of their past rulings, the constitution or their oaths of office.
True to an extent, but SCOTUS rulings have far-reaching consequences, which can put a brake on helping the current administration just because it’s a Republican one.
On every question where Trump’s lawyers claim privilege or other expanded powers, the Republican Supremes have to be thinking “Okay, do we want the next Democratic President to have this power?”
That’s the reason to be hopeful that they won’t bail Trump out any further than the Constitution and established case law will allow.