‘These are documents that even the Republicans on the Oversight Committee—at least at some point in time—believed we needed to conduct effective oversight, but when the Trump Administration refused to comply fully, the Republicans would not issue a single subpoena. Many of these requests were bipartisan, and some are now more than a year old.  As Democrats prepare to take the reins in Congress, we are insisting—as a basic first step—that the Trump Administration and others comply with these Republican requests.’
The Republicans on the committee basically gave Donald Trump a green light to whatever he wanted to do. In other words, they did not do their job of providing oversight to the Executive Branch. POTUS’ cabinet have been overflowing with men and women in the position to benefit themselves rather than do the people’s work. That means the Democrats have a lot of catch-up work.
In addition, the statement released a list of the subjects for each of the full set of letters Cummings released over the Capitol. The topics included:
- Response to Hurricanes in Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands
- Immigrant Child Separations
- Flint Water Crisis
- Emoluments and Payments from Foreign Governments
- Security Clearances
- White House and Cabinet Member Travel
- EPA Misconduct
- Federal Records Act Compliance
- Presidential Records Act Compliance
- Whistleblower Protection
Donald Trump’s White House said that only 64 people died after Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rica, officially. In actuality 2,975 people died, many from Trump’s dereliction of duty. A floating medical ship could have helped many of the residents, but the victims had no way to get to the ship and none was ordered.
At Trump’s order, immigration officers ripped children out of the arms of their mothers and fathers to separate them by hundreds of miles. There was no system in place to get them reunited. There were children in cages and kid jails — as a deterrent. Now, the president has a stranglehold on the border to prevent lawful refugee entry.
The governor of Michigan took over cities, then his person in Flint, Michigan screwed up a good water system and input toxic water. He caused brain damage and other illnesses among many children.
Donald Trump has refused to release his tax returns, so the legislative body could not properly oversee how much he has been profiting off of his presidential connections, which is illegal, according to the Constitution’s Emolument Clause. Cummings wants to know how far POTUS is into the pockets of China, Russia, and Saudi Arabia, among others.
The president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner could not get a security clearance except via Trump’s okay. Cummings wants the details about him and others. He also wants a check on cabinet members’ and White House travel. Several people in the cabinet fly around the country and the world in private and military planes, at a huge unnecessary expense. Senate Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) wife, Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao, is one of them.
Cummings wants to delve into the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) misconduct. He wants to see instances of Federal Records Act noncompliance. He also wants to protect whistleblowers.
Featured image is a screenshot via YouTube.