Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) walked out of the White House with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) after a good attempt at bipartisanship. Then, she turned sharply and attacked Donald Trump as only this woman can.
She released a powerful three-page packet containing document claiming POTUS was “immoral, unethical, corrupt, and unpatriotic.” That was just the beginning. She claimed that he was “sabotaging checks (and) balances” and all this “is part of a…growing pattern of obstruction:”
‘The president’s disdain for rule of law and the Republicans’ complicity in his abuses of power are doing lasting damage to American democracy. Congress is a co-equal branch of government, intended to serve as a check on executive power and prevent the rise of a tyrant. Preventing Congress from exercising any oversight as the president intends fundamentally impairs the balance of power.’
Pelosi acted quickly after The Washington Post broke the news that special counsel Robert Mueller wrote a formal letter to Attorney General William Barr, which was an extremely rare and significant move. Mueller accused the AG of waylaying his report on his Russia investigation. The attorney general was already scheduled to testify before the Senate.
The special counsel identified 10 cases of possible obstruction of justice by Donald Trump. The reason Mueller did not make a finding was that the Department of Justice rules forbade it. His intention was to lay out the case then turn his report over to Congress. Barr got into the way.
POTUS has continually tried to keep White House witnesses from testifying, as the Speaker said:
‘President Trump is taking extraordinary and unprecedented measures to conceal information about himself and to cover-up his administration’s dangerous and secretive activities from the public.’
Pelosi came down hard on Trump for “violat(ing) 30 years of presidential precedent.” Her evidence behind that claim was his refusal to turn over his tax returns. Congress legally has the right to demand the tax returns from anyone, including the president:
‘The president was elected to serve the people, not rule behind closed doors. Transparency is critical to a healthy democracy and every American should be alarmed by the president’s behavior.’
Pelosi’s chairmen helped her write her documents, and it reflects their prior words and actions in one strategical campaign against the president. She began to shift from her previous cautious approach toward impeachment after Trump said he would “fight all the subpoenas” from Congress and actually brought a lawsuit against one panel chair to block its oversight.
Last week, the Department of Justice (DOJ) simply ignored a subpoena requesting documentation about an illegal 2020 Census change. Pelosi also claimed that the White House was “undermining national security” by preventing the practice of Homeland Security briefings on national threats.
Pelosi’s memo indicated that Trump had “denied or delayed” the release of documents or personnel to testify about his separation of refugee children from their parents at the southern U.S. border. She also wanted information about the president’s Mar-a-Lago Club buddies’ influence over the Veteran Affairs (VA) Department.
In addition, the Speaker pointed to Trump’s senior policy adviser Stephen Miller. The ultra-conservative adviser has written many of the draconian immigration policies, but he has refused to appear before Congress. She also noted that Secretary of HHS (Health and Human Services) Alex Azar has also refused to appear and testify about family separations at the border.
