Tag: Trump obstruction of justice

Kevin McCarthy and the ‘but not impeachable’ defense of Trump

Washington Post logoRepublicans who want to avoid criticizing the president are likely to lean on the wiggle room the Constitution gives Congress.

Republicans in Congress have struggled to explain why President Trump’s phone call with the Ukrainian president is okay. Witness the top House Republican, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), in an interview aired Sunday on CBS’s “60 Minutes.” Reporter Scott Pelley asks McCarthy whether what Trump has done is wrong.

McCarthy doesn’t directly answer the question. “You and I have all the information we need,” he says. “The president did nothing in this phone call that’s impeachable.” The exchange is instructive about how Republicans might move forward in this impeachment inquiry: switch the metric Trump is graded on from what’s wrong to what’s an impeachable offense.

This could be where Republicans’ hat will hang throughout this process: Maybe it was wrong (though McCarthy isn’t allowing that much), but it’s not impeachable.

View the complete September 30 article by Amber Phillips on The Washington Post website here.

Trump: White House ‘trying to find out’ whistleblower’s identity

The Hill logoPresident Trump said Monday that the White House is “trying to find out” the identity of the intelligence community whistleblower who filed a complaint about the president’s interactions with Ukraine.

“We’re trying to find out about a whistleblower,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office when asked if he knows the person’s identity, alleging that they reported “things that are incorrect.”

The president’s remarks came one day after he demanded to meet the whistleblower and cast doubt on the individual’s complaint on Twitter.

View the complete September 30 article by Morgan Chalfant on The Hill website here.

House Judiciary issues subpoena for information on Trump offer of pardons

The Hill logoThe head of the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday subpoenaed the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for documents related to allegations that President Trump promised pardons to officials who carry out orders connected to construction of a wall at the southern border that could be illegal.

Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) asked Acting DHS Secretary Kevin McAleenan in the subpoena to provide documents related to two meetings in March and April of this year between Trump and DHS officials where the topic of pardons reportedly came up, giving him a deadline of Sept. 17.

“The dangling of pardons by the President to encourage government officials to violate federal law would constitute another reported example of the President’s disregard for the rule of law,” Nadler said in a statement.

View the September 4 article by Olivia Beaver on The Hill website here.

FBI releases records of Justice Dept. official Bruce Ohr interviews about Russia probe

Washington Post logoHeavily redacted FBI memos released Thursday show that while the FBI formally cut ties with a former British intelligence officer who supplied some early information in the investigation of Russian election interference, agents quietly sought to reestablish contact as the case heated up.

The released documents are formal FBI interview memos of agents’ conversations with Bruce Ohr, a senior Justice Department official who has drawn the ire of President Trump for his connections to Christopher Steele, a former British spy with an expertise in Russia who wrote a dossier of allegations against Trump in 2016. The general thrust of Steele’s allegations was that then-candidate Trump was secretly aligned with Russian officials and could be manipulated by them.

Ohr, a relatively obscure Justice Department employee for more than 20 years, became a focus of Republicans in Congress after they learned of his interactions with Steele, and the Washington, D.C.-based research firm that hired Steele, Fusion GPS.

View the complete August 9, article by Devlin Barrett on The Washington Post website here.

McCabe sues FBI, DOJ, blames Trump for his firing

The Hill logoFormer FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe is suing the Justice Department and FBI over his termination from the bureau last year, arguing that his firing was a politically motivated move stemming from President Trump‘s attacks against him and other Department of Justice (DOJ) officials.

McCabe alleges in the lawsuit filed Thursday that Trump administration officials “responded to Plaintiff’s two decades of unblemished and non-partisan public service with a politically motivated and retaliatory demotion in January 2018 and public firing in March 2018 — on the very night of Plaintiff’s long-planned retirement from the FBI.”

He claims that the actions have harmed his “reputation, professional standing, and dramatically reduced his retirement benefits.”

View the complete August 8 article by Olivia Beavers and Jacqueline Thomsen on The Hill website here.

Judiciary Democrats say they are effectively in impeachment inquiry already

Court filing for grand jury info in Mueller report intensifies probe to determine whether to impeach Trump, they say

House Judiciary Democrats told reporters Friday that they don’t need to launch a formal impeachment inquiry — they’re essentially conducting one already with their investigation into President Donald Trump.

“In effect,” Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler said when asked if the panel’s ongoing probe is effectively the same as an impeachment inquiry.

The only difference, the New York Democrat said, is with a formal impeachment inquiry the panel would only be considering impeachment.

View the complete July 26 article by Lindsey McPherson on The Roll Call website here.

Mueller: Trump could be charged with obstruction of justice after leaving office

The Hill logoFormer special counsel Robert Mueller on Wednesday said that he believes President Trump could be charged with obstruction of justice after he leaves office.

“Could you charge the president with a crime after he left office?” Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) asked Mueller during the former special counsel’s testimony.

“Yes,” Mueller replied.

Buck appeared to be taken aback, and asked the question again, but adding whether Mueller believed a president could be charged with obstruction of justice after leaving office. The former special counsel again said he believed that was the case.

View the complete July 24 article by Jacqueline Thomsen on The Hill website here.

Robert Mueller agrees to publicly testify to Congress

Axios logoFormer special counsel Robert Mueller has agreed to testify publicly before the House Intelligence and Judiciary committees pursuant to a subpoena on July 17, Chairmen Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) announced Tuesday evening. The testimonies will be “back to back,” but separate, according to Schiff.

Why it matters: Mueller previously said he preferred not to testify and that his 400-page report would function as his testimony. After weeks of negotiations between the former special counsel’s team and House Democrats, a subpoena is what ultimately broke the deadlock.

“Pursuant to subpoenas issued by the House Judiciary and House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence tonight, Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III has agreed to testify before both Committees on July 17 in open session.

View the complete June 25 article by Rebecca Falconer and Zachaery Basu on the Axios website here.

Trump kicks off re-election bid that could extend key legal protections into 2025

Federal statute of limitations on Mueller’s findings would expire in second term, ex-U.S. attorney says

President Donald Trump on Tuesday night started his re-election bid, ending years of speculation that he might return to private life and opt out of seeking a second term that could provide him legal protections into 2025.

Political operatives since before he took office have suggested the 73-year-old former real estate mogul and reality television host might tire of the grueling job of president, choosing to enjoy running his businesses alongside his children in Manhattan and his various resort properties around the world. He put an end to that talk Tuesday during a raucous campaign rally in Orlando, Florida.

“Show up Nov. 3 — that’s your big day — and vote. Vote, vote, vote,” Trump said moments before chants of “four more years” broke out. “We’re going to have a big, big day.”

View the complete June 18 article by John T. Bennet on The Roll Call website here.

Trump asserts executive privilege over subpoenaed census docs

President Trump has asserted executive privilege over congressionally subpoenaed documents on the addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 census, the Department of Justice announced Wednesday.

The announcement comes as the House Oversight and Reform Committee is set to vote on whether to hold Attorney General William Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in contempt for failing to comply with congressional subpoenas for the documents.

“By proceeding with today’s vote, you have abandoned the accommodation process with respect to your requests and subpoenas for documents concerning the secretary’s decision to include a citizenship question on the 2020 census,” Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd wrote in a letter to House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings(D-Md.).

View the complete June 12 article by Jacqueline Thomsen on The Hill website here.