Politics The Probe

Is every single House subpoena going to be challenged? Several news sources reported that four White House staffers were told not to appear today (sorry, no link). At least two them could possibly confirm the testimony that the phone call "transcript" is incomplete, and very likely inaccurate.

The war of attrition continues. We need a court ruling, "Cut the crap. Appear."

 

Definitely.

But where would they wind up in jail? Certainly not in with the type of people you wouldn't want to be in jail with.
And they'd continue to be paid.

But jail works for me.


This makes me think of The Bonfire of the Vanities (the novel, I've never seen the movie).

 

Stone is one of those people who will lie no matter what. He'll stand his ground no matter what the oath, threat, or action.

Think of him as the Black Knight.

 

The "buck stops here" ... Nope, not with this president.

Deflect away from Trump at all costs, despite the facts.

House GOP looks to protect Trump by raising doubts about motives of his deputies

 

The Rules of Presidential Pardons


When is the best time to file charges against any of the people involved in Trump's illegal dealings?
While he's still POTUS, hoping that he won't be--or will be--stupid enough to grant pardons while facing reelection?

If Trump is reelected (my bowels just churned), he could issue pardons galore with little fear of effective backlash, it would be mostly just verbal criticism. And he would almost certainly enjoy the controversy.

I have no faith that he'll be removed from office, and believe that he will be the Republican presidential candidate in 2020.



Where can the charges be filed? If Trump can only grant pardons on federal charges, is there a way to charge his cohorts at the state level?

I know that the courts have ruled some charges against Trump can proceed because they're state charges.




I'm a "child" of Watergate. The one thing I will always remember about Gerald Ford, regardless of any positives attributed to him, is the Nixon pardon. 'Time to move on and heal,' my ass.

 

The fucked up part with Ford's pardon was that it was done before Nixon was convicted of doing anything.
It made moot any attempt to bring him up on charges so that we could find out what really happened.
That isn't a pardon, that is like the old Catholic indulgence, absolving him of all sins.

 

Did the Ford & Nixon Sweetheart Deal lead to any serious changes to the presidential pardon procedure? If yes, I don't remember it.

And as previously mentioned, Trump has before referred to pardons as a possibility. I'm guessing he was vague enough to avoid any real, or at least lasting, media attention.


Oh yes, the propaganda. Continuing to refer to the partial & incomplete phone call transcript as the transcript.

 

So Mick Mulvaney joins the long list of Trumpers who ignored House subpoenas. Eleven of thirteen didn't show (TBF I don't know how many received subpoenas).

What's the issue? If you can truthfully dispute the testimony of others, step up and do so. If your testimony would support that of others, you just ignore the subpoena rather than telling the truth, or lying and facing perjury charges?

The Trumpers don't get to ignore legal proceedings just because they disagree with them. They don't get to ignore Constitutional law.

Where are the consequences? Will there be any?

 

The legal issue is ultimately one of subpoena power of Congress versus a president citing executive privilege regarding past and present senior advisers having absolute immunity from being compelled to testify.

One of those senior advisers, Charles Kupperman, a former deputy national security adviser, asked the courts to decide and it was plodding along until the judge said he would "fast track" it earlier this week. But that would only be the first step that is likely to ultimately lead to the Supreme Court and result in a landmark decision along the lines of the Court's U.S. vs Nixon decision that established limits on "executive privilege" claims by a president.

U.S. judge fast-tracks hearing over House impeachment subpoena to former national security aide Charles Kupperman

So, in reality, all these guys get a pass until the legal issues are resolved.

From an impeachment perspective, the House can still approve an Article of Impeachment on Contempt of Congress for ordering senior officials to defy subpoenas.

 

If the Supreme Court rules in favor of Executive Privilege (more like Abuse of Power) for Trump.......................

 

In case anyone popping into this thread has a FB account, there is a (long & comprehensive) daily synopsis/analysis posted by Heather Cox Richardson that comes online generally after midnight Eastern Time.
She’s an American historian and Professor of History at Boston College.
a sample from November 8 2019

View: https://www.facebook.com/241446929332714/posts/2054251001385622?d=n&sfns=mo

 

I'm not sure why these assholes like Mick Mulvaney think they can ignore a congressional subpoena for an impeachment inquiry. If Congress can impeach the president and compel his presence, they sure as fuck can compel his lackeys. Stop trying to cause a constitutional crisis. These nitwits are trying to destroy the foundations of our democracy. Our country and its citizens have faith that people en masse will honor the duties of the constitution and country, and they are working to destroy those pillars. The only reason a million people have not shown up at the white house and dragged that criminal out and hung his corpse up at a gas station a la Mussolini is that we have faith the other branches of government are going to step in and right the ship of state.