Watching an empty chair at today’s hearing in the House Judiciary Committee, 71-year-old Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) continues his dog-and-pony show, expecting to cross examine White House Counsel Don McGahan. McGahan was told to ignore Nadler’s subpoena by 72-year-old Donald Trump, claiming executive privilege of all communications between McGahan and anything connected with the White House. Nadler, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) have been issuing subpoenas in the wake of the March 22 Special Counsel’s Final Report. After a 22-month investigation, Special Counsel Robert Mueller found that no one in the Trump campaign or anyone else conspired with Russia in the 2016 presidential election, nor was their evidence to charge Trump with obstruction of justice.
Since Mueller’s report was summarized by Atty. Gen. William Barr March 24, House Democrats have practically stood on their heads to keep the Mueller probe going, claiming it was part of their oversight duties. But doubling down on Trump has put the president in double-jeopardy, something expressly forbidden by the U.S. Constitution. Trump was acquitted by the Special Counsel’s legal authority, only to find himself investigated a second time for the same alleged crimes by at least four Congressional Committees. House Finance Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) has sought Trump’s tax returns, including any financial records connected with the Trump Organization. Only yesterday, U.S. District Court Judge Amit P. Mehta rejected Trump’s request to quash Congressional subpoenas into his financial records. Trump immediately appealed Mehta’s ruling.
Nadler, Schiff, Cummings and Waters have weaponized their Congressional committees, claiming White House has denied their Artice 1 oversight authority. Because Mueller’s 22-month probe was a criminal investigation, White House officials insist Congress has abused its oversight authority, trying to re-litigate the Mueller Report. Instead of accepting Mueller’s findings, the Democrat-led House has weaponized Congressional committees to damage Trump politically heading into the 2020 presidential election. When Barr refused to show up to his Congressional hearing May 2, Nadler claimed that he was obstructing justice. But Barr’s decision to no testify in the Judiciary Committee had to do with Trump declaring executive privilege, preventing him from testifying. “This is becoming a regular event. It called the circus of the Judiciary,” said Rep. Dough Collins (R-Ga.).
House Democrats contend that Trump’s decision to ignore Congressional subpoenas constitutes a cover-up. But with the White House declaring executive privilege, there’s nothing any witness can say, other than “no comment.” “Let me be clear: This committee will hear Mr. McGahan’s testimony, even if we have to go to court to secure it,” Nadler said during his empty hearing. Nadler has the same recourse to the federal courts as the White House, only asking for opposite things. Nadler wants to compel testimony, while White House wants to quash the subpoenas. Trump contends that there’s no obstruction of justice because there’s no underlying crime on which to cover anything up. Nadler and other House Committee chairman want to make the case that failure to respond to subpoenas is equivalent preventing Congressional committees from their oversight duties.
When Nadler slapped Barr with a Contempt of Congress citation May 5 in the Judiciary Committee, it was clearly politically driven. Weaponizing a Congressional Committee does not prove that abusive subpoenas hold any legitimacy. “Mr. McGahan has a legal obligation to be here for this scheduled appearance. If he does not immediately correct this mistake, the committee will have no choice but to enforce this subpoena against him,” Nadler said. Nadler insists that McGahan’s refusal to testify shows Trump’s “broader effort to cover up his misconduct,” not specifying his misconduct. Mueller already cleared Trump of any wrongdoing when it comes to Russian collusion, stating, for the record, there was insufficient evidence to charge Trump with obstruction of justice. Nadler knows if there’s no underlying crime, there’s no basis to charge obstruction of justice.
Nadler’s attempt to subpoena White House attorneys or other members of Trump’s staff ended May 8, the day he declared executive privilege. When it comes to the Mueller Report, House Democrats have overstepped their Article 1 oversight authority. House Democrat agreed to allow Special Counsel Mueller to be the final arbiter on all matters related to allegations of Russian collusion and obstruction of justice. Once Mueller delivered his final report March 22, House Democrats went into overdrive to refute the results, because they didn’t find Trump guilty of collusion and obstruction. Throwing out subpoenas on anything related to the Mueller probe abuses Congressional oversight authority. Trump has every right, as commander-in-chief, to declare executive privilege. If Congress wants to test its Article 1 authority it needs to do it in federal court, not abusing its subpoena power.
