Tag: House Judiciary Committee

Republicans Are Trying To Kill An LGBT Bill In Congress By Arguing It Hurts Women

“Women, lesbians, and families become the collateral damage.”

An LGBT rights bill needs to die — to help women.

That was the message Republicans brought to a rowdy congressional hearing on Tuesday, when conservative lawmakers and think tanks denounced the nondiscrimination bill with increasingly uniform charges of sexism.

The bill’s protections for transgender people, they contend, advance a “radical gender ideology” that will erase and victimize women.

“Women, lesbians, and families become the collateral damage of identity politics,” said Republican Doug Collins of Georgia, ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee.

View the complete April 2 article by Dominic Holden on the BuzzFeed News website here.

Kushner to cooperate with Judiciary document requests

White House adviser Jared Kushner has indicated through his counsel that he will provide documents to the House Judiciary Committee as part of the panel’s sprawling inquiry into the Trump administration, campaign and businesses through his attorney, a committee source tells The Hill.

Kushner attorney Abbe Lowell has indicated to the panel that he and his client will provide documents as part of the panel’s first wave of documents requests, the source says. It’s unclear how extensive the documents provided by Kushner will be.

Lowell and his spokesman did not respond to multiple requests for comment about such plans.

View the complete March 22 article by Olivia beavers on The Hill website here.

Rep. Nadler: White House can’t claim executive privilege on Mueller report

Judiciary Committee chairman says administration waived that privilege ‘long ago’

The top House Democrat in the impending fight between the executive branch and Congress over the release of special counsel Robert S. Mueller’s report to the public indicated Tuesday that he will strongly oppose White House lawyers’ efforts to redact some information.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler claimed Tuesday that the Trump administration waived any claims of executive privilege over Mueller’s eventual findings “long ago” when it agreed to cooperate with the probe. Continue reading “Rep. Nadler: White House can’t claim executive privilege on Mueller report”

Top Judiciary Republican: Investigating Trump Is Unconstitutional

The highest-ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA), is complaining that attempts to investigate Trump’s crimes and corruptions are in violation of the Constitution. But experts say he’s full of it.

The committee, chaired by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), recently issued a large document request to more than 80 different individuals and entities to investigate Trump and his administration for obstruction of justice, abuse of power, and corruption.

Collins, who leads the minority on the committee, sent Nadler a letter in which Collins whined about the “sprawling investigation.”

View the complete March 10 article by Oliver WIllis of The American Independent on the National Memo website here.

Trump accuses Nadler of harassment in wide-ranging probe

President Trump on Tuesday attacked Democratic Rep. Jerrold Nadler (N.Y.), accusing the House Judiciary Committee chairman of attempting to “harass” his associates in a wide-ranging probe into Trump’s administration, campaign and businesses.

“Nadler, Schiff and the Dem heads of the Committees have gone stone cold CRAZY. 81 letter sent to innocent people to harass them. They won’t get ANYTHING done for our Country!” he tweeted.

The president also referenced House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), who on Monday made a sweeping request for documents and interviews related to Trump’s conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

View the complete March 5 article by Jordan Fabian on The Hill website here.

Dems unleash sprawling probe of Trump family, administration

Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee unleashed a sprawling probe of President Trump‘s family, campaign, business and administration on Monday that includes more than 80 requests for documents.

The investigation under Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) will focus on three key areas: obstruction of justice, public corruption and abuses of power. Nadler rolled out the expansive investigation less than a week after the president’s former attorney Michael Cohen delivered explosive public testimony against him on Capitol Hill.

Democrats will be looking at those involved in the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting between Trump campaign officials and a Russian lawyer linked to the Kremlin, the Trump Organization’s plans to build a Trump property in Moscow and a scheme to pay off two women who alleged they had affairs with Trump before the 2016 election.

View the complete March 4 article by Olivia Beavers and Morgan Chalfant on The Hill website here.

Five takeaways from acting AG’s fiery House hearing

Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker was grilled by House Judiciary Committee lawmakers for close to six hours Friday in an explosive hearing dominated by partisan clashes.

During the hearing, Whitaker fielded a slew of questions on special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, which he repeatedly declined to answer directly, infuriating House Democrats in their first crack at a top Trump administration official since recapturing the chamber in last year’s midterm elections.

The conclusion of the tense and highly dramatic hearing left Democrats unsatisfied and pledging that they will request a return appearance from Whitaker — even as his days as the top law enforcement official are numbered with the impending confirmation of William Barr.

View the complete February 8 article by Jacqueline Thomsen, Olivia beavers and Morgan Chalfant on The Hill website here.

Through Whitaker, Trump officially declares war on House oversight

In acting AG’s letter to House Judiciary, administration indicates it will resist disclosing president’s conversations with aides

ANALYSIS — The Trump administration on Thursday moved its first chess piece in what is

expected to be a contentious match between the White House and House Democrats as the latter seek documents and testimony for their oversight investigations of the president and his Cabinet.

In a letter to House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler on Thursday, acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker said he would bail on his scheduled hearing on Friday unless Nadler assured him he would not file a subpoena to compel Whitaker to disclose his conversations with the president on hot-button topics or force Whitaker to invoke “executive privilege.” Continue reading “Through Whitaker, Trump officially declares war on House oversight”

Moller bill strengthening protections against sexual harassment scheduled for House Judiciary Committee Thursday

SAINT PAUL, Minn. – On Thursday, the Minnesota House Judiciary Finance and Civil Law Division will consider HF 10, a bill authored by Rep. Kelly Moller (DFL – Shoreview), to modernize Minnesota’s sexual harassment law to remove such behavior from Minnesota workplaces. For decades, courts have upheld an unreasonable “severe or pervasive” threshold when applying sexual harassment law, making it extremely difficult for those who have experienced harassment to see justice and accountability. Rep. Moller’s bill will remove this roadblock by providing much-needed clarification to Minnesota’s Human Rights Act.

WHAT: House Judiciary Division hearing on HF 10, a bill aimed at eliminating sexual harassment from Minnesota workplaces.

WHO: Rep. Kelly Moller (DFL – Shoreview), bill chief-author; Sheila Engelmeier, attorney, Engelmeier & Umanah PA; Leslie L. Lienemann, attorney, Culberth & Lienemann, LLP; Megan Peterson, Executive Director, Gender Justice; survivors of sexual harassment.

WHEN: Thursday, February 7, 9:45 a.m.

WHERE: Room 10, State Office Building, 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Saint Paul, 55155.

Resolution of Inquiry – Sounds Boring But It’s Important

The following article was posted on the TrumpAccountable.org website February 23, 2017:

President Trump, accompanied by Vice President Pence, center, shakes hands with House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) on Thursday at a Republican congressional retreat. (Matt Rourke/AP)

The House leadership has signaled that they intend to bury a Resolution of Inquiry introduced by Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) in the House Judiciary Committee so it can’t come to a vote in the full House. Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) will likely let the resolution die. The relevant facts are:

  • The Resolution Of Inquiry directs “the Department of Justice to provide the House of Representatives with any and all information relevant to an inquiry into President Trump and his associates’ conflicts of interest, ethical violations—including the Emoluments Clause—and Russia ties.”
  • While these kinds of resolutions are rare, Nadler and his Democratic colleagues feel that the unprecedented conflicts of interest surrounding the administration demand greater scrutiny and the House Oversight Committee has not exerted much effort to investigate issues that many Americans are concerned about. “Republicans have shown zero willingness to follow through on their duty to conduct oversight,” according to Nadler, “and they must be held accountable if they are truly willing to abdicate this constitutional obligation and must be made to answer to the American people for that failure.”
  • Make no mistake: “accountable to the American people” is an enormous issue. By sending the Resolution of Inquiry to committee to die members of the House will not have to go on record and won’t be accountable for lax oversight of Trump’s actions and conflicts.

Continue reading “Resolution of Inquiry – Sounds Boring But It’s Important”