Politico notes the problems Democrats are having with getting information from the Administration in order to execute their oversight duties:
House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings is moving toward a vote to hold former White House personnel security director Carl Kline in contempt after he refused to comply with a subpoena for his appearance before the committee on Tuesday.
Cummings’ statement came after the White House instructed Kline to not answer questions Tuesday as part of the committee’ investigation into the White House security clearance process. It also sets up what could be the most significant clash between the two branches of government since Democrats took over the House. …
“It also appears that the White House believes that it may dictate to Congress — an independent and co-equal branch of government — the scope of its investigations and even the rules by which it conducts them,” Cummings added. “To date, the White House has refused to produce a single piece of paper or a single witness in any of the committee’s investigations this entire year.”
I think the Administration is running a risk, though. At some point, this will start coming up in front of judges, and if they consistently decide for the House Committee chairpeople submitting the requests and subpoenas – and if they do so with a “ya gotta be kidding with that argument, Trump” – there’s a real possibility of a pattern of misbehavior, and that’s something the Judiciary doesn’t like to see.
It could result in unexpected penalties for the Administration, as well as the lawyers advising the Administration to follow this strategy.
This won’t impact the Trump base any, of course, as they’ve sold their souls and are no longer free agents, but the independents will take note of the further bad behavior of the Administration, and vote accordingly.
