Government

Here Come The Subpoenas

Welcome to the rest of the Trump administration.

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Jerry Nadler (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

I’m starting the process of teaching my six-year-old to play chess and it’s fun because for the first time in my life, I have an opponent I can beat. All he can think about is what he’s going to do next. He’s got no freaking concept of what I’m going to do next. He’s so easy to beat, I almost feel bad for him. Almost.

Donald Trump, and many in his administration, share my six-year-old’s myopic regard of their own actions. Mind you, Trump’s preferred chess stratagem is knocking over the board and declaring victory while his sycophants praise him for “changing the rules of the game.” But the core concept is no different from that of a child: act like you are the only one who matters. Trump keeps failing because he doesn’t seem to understand that other players get to move as well.

Trump has spent a week stomping around the country declaring “exoneration,” just like my kid excitedly screams out “CHECK,” as if saying it louder brings him closer to “checkmate.” House Democrats are now ready for their turn. And their next move has been telegraphed for months. On Wednesday, the Democrats will vote to subpoena the Mueller report. From CNN:

House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler will authorize a subpoena this week to obtain the full, unredacted report from special counsel Robert Mueller, teeing up a showdown between congressional Democrats and the Trump administration over the nearly 400-page report.

Nadler said Monday that he had scheduled a markup on Wednesday to authorize a subpoena for the Mueller report, as well as the special counsel’s underlying evidence. The markup would give the New York Democrat the green light to subpoena the report, though Nadler has not said whether he would do so before Attorney General William Barr releases a redacted version publicly, which he is expected to do later this month.

The Mueller report isn’t all the Dems are subpoenaing.

The House Judiciary Committee will also vote to authorize subpoenas for five former White House staffers — Don McGahn, Steve Bannon, Hope Hicks, Reince Priebus and Ann Donaldson — whom Nadler says may have received documents from the White House relevant to the special counsel’s probe and the committee’s investigation that would waive executive privilege.

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And as the Democrats break the seal on subpoenas, there’s more to come. Trump has every reason to expect that the Supreme Court is likely to authorize the administration’s attempts to corrupt the upcoming Census. But Democrats want to hear more about their scheme. From Politico:

As it turns out, Congress’ first subpoena of Attorney General William Barr may have nothing to do with special counsel Robert Mueller.

The House Oversight Committee plans to vote Tuesday on issuing subpoenas to Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross for documents related to Ross’ decision to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census.

That the Trump administration would spend the next two years fighting Congressional subpoenas has been known since Democrats took control of the House of Representatives this past November. Attorney General William Barr’s insistence on being coy with the Mueller report was just the stone to get the subpoena avalanche rolling.

The Trump administration spent its first two years only worrying about judicial oversight. It failed, at an epic and historical level, to deal with such oversight. Its next two years are going to have to deal with Congressional oversight. So far, the administration has shown no indication that it is prepared to handle that.

Which isn’t to say Democrats are close to actually “winning” anything or even making significant progress on their goals. Remember, Trump’s strategy is to KNOCK OVER THE BOARD. A subpoena is a rules-based way to find out more information, and Trump is a person who doesn’t acknowledge the concept of rules.

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Do the Democrats have a strategy for when Trump ignores the subpoenas or claims executive privilege or burns the Mueller report on live television while his supporters chant “no collusion”?

I don’t know. I’m terrible at chess.

Democrats to authorize subpoena for full Mueller report [CNN]

Elie Mystal is the Executive Editor of Above the Law and a contributor at The Nation. He can be reached @ElieNYC on Twitter, or at elie@abovethelaw.com. He will resist.

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