Tag: Trump stonewalling

Trump’s defiance of oversight presents new challenge to Congress’s ability to rein in the executive branch

Washington Post logoFor the first time since Democrats took control of the House last year, President Trump’s efforts to stonewall congressional efforts at oversight have begun to show some cracks.

On Thursday, a former State Department official set off a firestorm when he defied the White House’s no-cooperation strategy and provided Congress with text messages detailing the administration’s effort to leverage a potential meeting with Trump to pressure his Ukrainian counterpart to launch investigations into Trump’s political rivals.

And House Democrats are expected to interview other critical witnesses this week as they try to build a case for impeaching Trump over his alleged willingness to seek the help of a foreign leader for his own political gain.

View the complete October 7 article by Seung Min Kim and Rachael Bade on The Washington Post website here.

Scoop: Trump letter dares Pelosi to hold vote on impeachment inquiry

Axios logoThe White House is planning to send Speaker Nancy Pelosi a letter as soon as Friday arguing that President Trump and his team can ignore lawmakers’ demands until she holds a full House vote formally approving an impeachment inquiry, 2 sources familiar with the letter tell Axios.

Why it matters: By putting in writing the case that Trump and his supporters have been making verbally for days, the White House is preparing for a court fight and arguing to the public that its resistance to Congress’ requests is justified.

  • Trump wants to force House Democrats in vulnerable races to be on the record if they favor pursuing impeachment, these sources tell us.
  • Republicans also say the minority party can exert more influence over hearings and other aspects of an inquiry once it is formalized with a vote.
  • By calling this an inquiry without holding a vote, Pelosi and the Democratic committee chairmen are having it both ways, one official said. “They want to be a little bit pregnant.”

View the complete October 3 article by Alayna Treene and Margaret Talev on the Axios website here.

House Democrats threaten to subpoena White House for Ukraine docs

The Hill logoHouse Democrats are threatening to subpoena the White House for documents on President Trump‘s dealings with Ukraine as part of their impeachment inquiry, with three House panels signaling Wednesday they plan to move forward with the effort unless they get the material.
The move represents the latest battle between the White House and Democrats, and came amid clashing rhetoric Wednesday, with Democrats accusing Trump of potential obstruction of justice and the president accusing the opposition party of seeking to damage the country.
“Over the past several weeks, the Committees tried several times to obtain voluntary compliance with our requests for documents, but the White House has refused to engage with—or even respond to—the Committees,” reads a memo from House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-Md.)

View the complete October 2 article by Cristina Marcos on The Hill website here.

White House Press Secretary Grisham Has (Still) Held No Briefings

The Trump administration has held several press briefings with Cabinet secretaries and key officials while press secretary Stephanie Grisham has continued to avoid speaking in front of cameras.

On Wednesday, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and Acting FDA Commissioner Ned Sharpless had a press conference outside of the White House to announce the administration’s plan to ban flavored e-cigarettes.

On Tuesday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin had a press conference where they mostly fielded questions about Trump’s decision to fire John Bolton.

View the complete September 11 article by Oliver Willis on the National Memo website here.

Trump’s lawyers just had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad morning

Turns out, the rule of law still applies to the president.

Judge Neomi Rao is a cartoonishly right-wing judge. President Donald Trump’s appointee to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit once criticized a French court decision upholding a ban on “dwarf tossing.” She’s argued that much of the executive branch is unconstitutional, in part because members of Congress sometimes write letters to heads of agencies.

And yet, at a hearing Friday morning concerning President Trump’s ability to resist congressional oversight, even Rao appeared skeptical of many of the president’s lawyer’s arguments. Though the bulk of her questions suggested that Rao, a former law clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas and a former senior Trump White House official, will give her vote to Trump, even she grew impatient with many of Trump’s claims. And there is little risk that she picks up a majority. Continue reading “Trump’s lawyers just had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad morning”

Trump lawyers try again to block financial records subpoena

The oral argument before a three-judge panel is one of the first lawsuits Trump filed to stymie House investigations

President Donald Trump’s push to stonewall congressional subpoenas lands at a federal appeals court Friday, where House Democrats will once again defend their power to get years of his financial records from accounting firm Mazars USA.

The oral argument before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit is one of the first lawsuits Trump filed to stymie House investigations. And it could be the first to reach the Supreme Court no matter what the panel decides, since neither the president nor Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California appear likely to back down.

In a sign of the high stakes and high interest, the D.C. Circuit set the argument for a ceremonial courtroom that is twice the size as other courtrooms and barred so-called “line standers” that hold a place in the public seating line for those willing to pay them.

View the complete July 11 article by Todd Ruger on The Roll Call website here.

Justice Dept. Tells Mueller Deputies Not to Testify, Scrambling an Agreement

New York Times logoWASHINGTON — The Justice Department is seeking to discourage Robert S. Mueller III’s deputies from testifying before Congress, potentially jeopardizing an agreement for two of the former prosecutors to answer lawmakers’ questions in private next week, according to two government officials familiar with the matter.

The department told the House Intelligence and Judiciary Committees last week that it was opposed to the testimony and had communicated its view to the two former members of Mr. Mueller’s team, Aaron Zebley and James L. Quarles III, according to a senior congressional official familiar with the discussions. A Justice Department official confirmed that account and said that the department had instructed both men not to appear.

It is unclear what effect the Justice Department’s intervention will have on the men’s eventual appearances, but it raises the prospect that a deal lawmakers thought they had struck last month for testimony from Mr. Mueller, the former special counsel, and the two prosecutors could still unravel.

View the complete July 9 article by Nicholas Fandos and Katie Benner on The New York Times website here.

White House blocks key Mueller witness from answering more than 200 questions from House investigators

Washington Post logoAnnHouse Democrats’ hopes of making Annie Donaldson, the former chief of staff to ex-White House counsel Donald McGahn, a star witness in their investigations of President Trump were dashed as White House lawyers blocked her from answering more than 200 questions about potential obstruction of justice by the president.

Donaldson affirmed the accuracy of colorful and striking notes she made while working in the White House — notes that former special counsel Robert S. Mueller III cited 65 times in his report that described 10 episodes that raised concerns about possible obstruction.

But Trump administration lawyers barred her from elaborating on her thinking at the time she captured several exchanges between Trump and her boss — including one note in which she scribbled concern that Trump’s firing of James B. Comey as FBI director would trigger the end of his presidency.

View the complete July 8 article by Rachael Bade, Rosalind S. Helderman and Carol D. Leonnig on The Washington Post website here.

House Democrats sue Treasury Department for Trump’s tax returns

Axios logoHouse Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal is filing a lawsuit against the U.S. Treasury Department in an effort to compel the IRS to turn over President Trump’s tax returns.

Why it matters: Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has denied multiple requests for Trump’s tax returns, including a subpoena from the House Ways and Means Committee in May — arguing that the demands “lack a legitimate legislative purpose.” The result of Mnuchin’s defiance is likely to be a protracted court battle.

What they’re saying:

  • The lawsuit argues that a section of the IRS code requires “in mandatory terms that Treasury ‘shall furnish'” the House Ways and Means Committee with “any” tax return information that is requested, and that Trump has denied the request for what the committee believes is the first time ever.
  • In response to Treasury’s argument that the request lacks a “legitimate legislative purpose,” the lawsuit claims that nothing in the relevant IRS code requires an explanation. Even if a reason were required, the lawsuit argues that the committee needs the materials for its investigation into tax laws and policies related to presidential tax returns and tax law compliance by Trump.
  • It also argues that “the committee’s power to conduct oversight and investigations is firmly rooted in Congress’s Article I legislative authority.”

View the complete July 2 article by Zachary Basu on the Axios website here.

McGahn subpoena fight to test limits of executive ‘immunity’

The Hill logoThe impending court battle over a congressional subpoena for President Trump’s former White House counsel Don McGahn is about to test the concept of “immunity” for top presidential advisers, which has been invoked by both Republican and Democratic administrations but hardly tested in courts.

Legal experts say the outcome of a court battle between the House Judiciary Committee and the White House over McGahn documents and testimony could have significant implications for the powers of Congress and the executive branch.

The court fight could take months, even years, to resolve, further frustrating House Democrats as they seek to follow investigative threads from former special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe.

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