dagblog - Comments for "Trump Stonewall news thread: 1) Treasury secretary 'breaks law' by refusing to hand over president's tax returns for investigation"

Fast-tracked judicial hearing

artappraiser — Tue, 14 May 2019 07:53:39 +0000

In reply to Mehta, a Barack Obama

Fast-tracked judicial hearing starts Tuesday on financial records subpoena:

On the Eve of a Hearing, Trump Lawyers Tell Judge They Aren’t Happy About Fast-Tracked Subpoena Fight

by Matt Naham @ Law & Crime, 6:48 pm, May 13th, 2019

This could be wild; I can

artappraiser — Fri, 10 May 2019 02:12:35 +0000

In reply to Mehta, a Barack Obama

This could be wild; I can already imagine the Trump tweets:

Who is Amit Mehta, the hip hop-loving judge overseeing the standoff over Trump's financial records?

By Caroline Kelly @ CNN.com, Updated 10:07 PM ET, Thu May 9, 2019

One man's name can be expected to pop up more frequently as the battle between President Donald Trump and lawmakers takes to the courts: Judge Amit Mehta.

Mehta will oversee the standoff between the Democrat-led House Oversight Committee and President Donald Trump. The committee has subpoenaed Trump's long-standing accounting firm Mazars USA for several years' worth of the President's financial statements, and the President has sued the committee and Mazars to block the firm from complying.

The judge will weigh the issues of the case next week, according to an order issued Thursday -- a ramped-up schedule compared with the original multi-stage timetable, which could have dragged out the legal fight and kept the records from Congress.

Mehta previously denied an attempt by the same committee Democrats to get Trump hotel records from the General Services Administration last year, asserting that they didn't have standing, as they were then in the minority party.

President Barack Obama nominated Mehta to the US District Court for the District of Columbia in 2014, after he had worked mainly for the boutique DC law firm [.....]

Senate's subpoena of Jr.

artappraiser — Fri, 10 May 2019 01:27:29 +0000

In reply to Republicans rip GOP Senate

Senate's subpoena of Jr. still making news tonight:

Senate Intel’s decision to subpoena Don Jr. has ignited an internal Republican firefight over the fate of the committee’s Russia probe, with the sudden infighting threatening to undermine support for the Senate’s Russia investigation — w/ @karoun https://t.co/Jv3PXktUF8
— Seung Min Kim (@seungminkim) May 10, 2019

Mehta, a Barack Obama

artappraiser — Thu, 09 May 2019 21:57:39 +0000

In reply to Trump Stonewall news thread: 1) Treasury secretary 'breaks law' by refusing to hand over president's tax returns for investigation

Mehta, a Barack Obama appointee, will preside over the case...

'BIG': Judge in Trump's Challenge of Congressional Subpoena Plans to Move Quickly https://t.co/to4c73cH75 pic.twitter.com/jMxB7cD9jS
— Law & Crime (@lawcrimenews) May 9, 2019

Watch how Trump handles this.

artappraiser — Thu, 09 May 2019 21:54:14 +0000

In reply to Republicans rip GOP Senate

Watch how Trump handles this. https://t.co/EBYaMG5o1r
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) May 9, 2019

It's not at the "real"

artappraiser — Thu, 09 May 2019 00:46:32 +0000

In reply to Trump asserts executive

It's not at the "real Executive Privilege" stage yet; Ben Wittes:

If you're not reading ⁦@jshaub⁩ on executive privilege matters, you are not understanding them as well as you could be.
Also, people, the man has 91 followers on Twitter. Fix that. https://t.co/SkU5syrIdC
— Benjamin Wittes (@benjaminwittes) May 9, 2019

Republicans rip GOP Senate

artappraiser — Thu, 09 May 2019 00:21:43 +0000

In reply to Trump Stonewall news thread: 1) Treasury secretary 'breaks law' by refusing to hand over president's tax returns for investigation

Republicans rip GOP Senate Intel Committee decision to subpoena Trump Jr.

By Alexander Bolton @ TheHill.com, May 8

Republican lawmakers on Wednesday ripped the decision by the Senate Intelligence Committee to subpoena Donald Trump, Jr., the president’s eldest son and a key witness in the investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 election.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), one of President Trump’s closest Senate allies, swiped at Sen. Richard Burr (N.C.), the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, for prolonging the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. “Apparently the Republican chair of the Senate Intel Committee didn’t get the memo from the Majority Leader that this case was closed...” Paul tweeted in response to news reports that Burr has subpoenaed Trump Jr. to answer questions about his previous testimony to the panel.

Senate Democrats such as Sen. Richard Blumenthal (Conn.) have urged congressional committees to review the testimony of key witnesses such as Trump Jr. to determine if their answers matched the findings of the Mueller report.

A spokesperson for the committee said Wednesday: “We do not discuss the details of witness engagements with the committee.”

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), another staunch Trump ally, slammed the subpoena, tweeting Wednesday afternoon that Trump Jr. “has already spent dozens of hours testifying in front of congressional committees.” [....]

The Hill: House Intel panel

artappraiser — Thu, 09 May 2019 00:12:19 +0000

In reply to Trump asserts executive

The Hill: House Intel panel subpoenas Barr for full Mueller report, evidence @ 07:05 PM EDT and House panel votes to hold Barr in contempt @ 04:30 PM EDT. The first link has video "Trump Asserts Executive Privilege on Mueller report".

Trump asserts executive

artappraiser — Thu, 09 May 2019 00:05:49 +0000

In reply to Trump Stonewall news thread: 1) Treasury secretary 'breaks law' by refusing to hand over president's tax returns for investigation

Trump asserts executive privilege over Mueller report; House panel holds Barr in contempt

Nadler: "we are now in a constitutional crisis"

By Rachel Bade, Carol D. Leonnig & Matt Zapotosky @ WashingtonPost.com, May 8 at 7:34 PM

President Trump asserted executive privilege over special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s report Wednesday, his first use of the executive authority in the ongoing constitutional clash with Congress that the courts ultimately may resolve.

The administration’s move to deny Congress — and the broader public — Mueller’s complete report from the nearly two-year investigation came just hours before the House Judiciary Committee voted along party lines to hold Attorney General William P. Barr in contempt of Congress for ignoring a congressional subpoena.

“We have talked for a long time about approaching a constitutional crisis; we are now in a constitutional crisis,” House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) said moments after the contempt vote. “Now is the time of testing whether we can keep this type of republic, or whether this republic is destined to change into a different, more tyrannical form of government.”

[....]

The White House’s invocation of the presidential secrecy prerogative stood in stark contrast to Trump’s frequent boast of “total exoneration” from the Mueller report. [....]

Democrats could vote as early as next week on the Barr contempt citation, according to an individual familiar with internal discussions who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the timeline has not been finalized. That vote would enable House counsels to take Barr to civil court and try to persuade a judge to force him to release Mueller’s evidence, one of many high-stakes legal fights between the executive and legislative branches.

Democrats are also preparing to sue the Trump administration for refusing to turn over Trump’s tax returns and potentially former Trump aides like ex-White House counsel Donald McGahn if they refuse to comply with subpoenas [....]

The Committee sees this as

artappraiser — Wed, 08 May 2019 03:38:32 +0000

In reply to Trump Stonewall news thread: 1) Treasury secretary 'breaks law' by refusing to hand over president's tax returns for investigation

The Committee sees this as not even an ultimatum: that the White House is proceeding with an assertion of privilege here after Ds made good faith counteroffer today
— Mike Memoli (@mikememoli) May 8, 2019

.@RepJerryNadler responds: "This kind of obstruction is dangerous. ... In the coming days, I expect that Congress will have no choice but to confront the behavior of this lawless Administration."
— Mike Memoli (@mikememoli) May 8, 2019

Nadler: "The White House waived these privileges long ago, and the Department seemed open to sharing these materials with us earlier today. The Department’s legal arguments are without credibility, merit, or legal or factual basis."
— Mike Memoli (@mikememoli) May 8, 2019