Hounding 68-year-old Atty. Gen. William Barr for more documents, 68-year-old House Government Affairs and Oversight Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) continues to throw subpoenas at the Justice Department. Democrats’ narrative heading into the 2020 election is that anytime the White House refuses to respond to harassing subpoenas there must be a cover-up. First, the subpoenas to Barr related to the Mueller investigation, demanding Barr break DOJ policy and hand over grand jury testimony and the full, unredated Mueller Report. Once Barr refused to respond to subpoenas, House Judiciary Chairman Jerold Nadler (D-N.Y.) May 8, slapped him with a Contempt-of-Congress citation. Barr has invited Nadler, Cummings and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) to take the White House to federal court over the subpoenas.
White House officials think Nadler, Schiff and Cummings have weaponized their Congressional committees for the purpose of damaging 72-year-old President Donald Trump’s chance of reelection. Cummings now threatens to hit Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross for not responding to a subpoena for the underlying reasons to add a citizenship question on the U.S. Census Questionnaire. Democrats have decided to issue an unending stream of subpoenas, claiming the Trump White House is stonewalling, or as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), likes to say engaged in a “cover-up.” “They produced none of the documents we asked for, they made no counteroffers regarding these documents, and they seem determined to continue the Trump Administration cover-up,” said Cummings, carrying out the Democrat Party narrative heading into 2020.
When the failure to respond to subpoenas reaches federal court, a judge will have to decide whether or not there’s legitimate oversight merit to the subpoenas or throw the matter out of court. Democrats aren’t concerned about the legitimacy, they’re concerned about throwing as much mud on Trump before the 2020 election. Why Cummings wants to know the underlying reasons for the DOJ’s decision to add a citizenship question on the 2020 Census is anyone’s guess. While there’s no precedent for the question, given the refugee crisis at the U.S.-Mexican border, it’s reasonable to the Justice Department to figure out who’s a citizen and who’s not. Cummings accused Ross of engaging in a politics, trying to undermine the Census Bureau. Democrats contend that placing the citizenship question discourages a true census account because of the number of undocumented residents.
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohip) slammed Cummings, stating for the record that the White House has produced thousands of requested documents. “The committee is in the early stages of fact-finding—Democrats are prematurely jumping to contempt, when it should be the last re sort,” said Rep. Charlie Huddleston, spokesman for the Republican Oversight panel. Cummings wrote Barr and Ross a warning letter, demanding that all documents be turned over to his committee by Thursday, June 6. When the documents didn’t show up, Cummings threatened more contempt citations. “In this investigation, the committee is seeking information on a host of questions, including the administration’s actual reasons for trying to add a citizenship question,” Cummings said. Asst. Atty. Gen. Stephen Boyd told Cummings that the documents requested violated attorney-client privilege.
Commerce Department officials have pushed back against Cumming’s subpoenas, stating that his department has turned over thousands of documents. “The committee’s assertion that department has obstructed this investigation is, quite simply, contrary to the facts,” said Commerce Dept. spokesman Charles Kolo Rathburn. Rathburn told Cummings that his department has made available some 14,000 pages of documents, despite Cummings insisting that nothing’s been turned over. Cummings seems hell-bent on carrying out the Democrat Party strategy that the White House is engaged in obstruction of justice, as the very least stonewalling. Cummings insists he gave Barr and Ross ample time to produce the requested documents, knowing that it would never satisfy the committee. Cummings isn’t satisfied unless Barr and Ross are held in Contempt-of-Congress.
Weaponizing House committees, Democrats are following the Democrat Party blueprint to discredit Trump before the 200 presidential election. Indiscriminately throwing out subpoenas does not meet the smell test, knowing how the Justice and Commerce Departments have already produced thousands of documents. “We gave the Attorney General and Secretary Ross opportunity to produce the documents the Committee needs for our investigation, but rather than cooperate, they have decided that they would rather be help in contempt of Congress,: said Cummings. Next Tuesday, June 11, the Full House is scheduled to vote on Barr’s first contempt citation over his refusal to break DOJ rules and turn over the full, unredacted Mueller Report. Instead of giving in to House Democrats, Barr decided to let the situation play out in the federal courts where the White House hopes to get some injunctive relief.
