Despite Trump’s many repeated declarations about the Mueller report and how it “completely exonerated” him, the truth is that Special Counsel Robert Mueller concluded his investigation into the alleged collusion and obstruction of justice allegations against Trump and his 2016 presidential campaign with a report that laid out the evidence he collected and insisted that the venue for Trump’s adjudication was in Congress.
"I was not surprised because this administration has done everything in its power and every means necessary to block Congress from getting the information we need to do our job." – Chairman @RepCummings pic.twitter.com/AvctQ6ZjKF
— Oversight Committee (@OversightDems) April 24, 2019
In other words, the only people who can hold Trump accountable for any crime that he has or will ever commit while in office is Congress. On Tuesday, Trump decided that they don’t have that power anymore, either.
In an interview with The Washington Post:
‘Trump said that complying with congressional requests was unnecessary after the White House cooperated with special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s probe of Russian interference and the president’s own conduct in office.
‘“There is no reason to go any further, and especially in Congress where it’s very partisan — obviously very partisan,” Trump said.’
Rep. David Cicilline says a subpoena is still on the table after Treasury missed a deadline for the latest request for Pres. Trump's tax returns: "It cannot be the case that the President or the administration refuses to comply with the law, simply because they don't want to" pic.twitter.com/rfn5EytyaV
— The Situation Room (@CNNSitRoom) April 23, 2019
The investigations for which the House of Representatives is currently issuing subpoenas for documents and information are unrelated to Mueller’s investigation. For instance, Congress is also investigating claims by Trump’s former lawyer and “fixer” Michael Cohen that Trump committed tax fraud and campaign finance violations, and a separate investigation is looking into Trump’s granting of security clearances to people who were denied on the basis of criminal conduct and drug abuse.
Trump’s administration is now openly refusing to comply with those investigations, as well.
‘Separately, the administration directed a former White House official not to comply with a subpoena from the House Oversight Committee, prompting the panel to move to hold him in contempt of Congress. And the Treasury Department defied a second demand from House Democrats to turn over six years of President Trump’s tax returns.’
Trump has refused to cooperate, and Monday’s lawsuit in Washington shifts what is certain to be an intense battle into the federal courts. https://t.co/e7fW9DMcOS
— Bloomberg Government (@BGOV) April 22, 2019
Trump insists that Congress is too divided to fairly adjudicate allegations that he’s committed unethical and possibly criminal acts. Since the Department of Justice memo saying that a sitting president cannot be indicted does exist, this means that Trump is now running the White House in the absence of any oversight at all.
‘I don’t want people testifying to a party, because that is what they’re doing if they do this…I allowed my lawyers and all the people to go and testify to Mueller — and you know how I feel about that whole group of people that did the Mueller report. I was so transparent; they testified for so many hours. They have all of that information that’s been given…I fully understood that at the beginning. I had my choice,” Trump added of his decision to allow his aides to testify as part of Mueller’s probe. “I could have taken the absolute opposite route.’
A former Trump White House official refused to testify today about security clearances granted to Jared Kushner and others https://t.co/koMUyVZGjd
— Jamie Dupree (@jamiedupree) April 23, 2019
Featured image via Flickr by Matt Johnson under a Creative Commons license
