They’ve Played The Game Too Long
Following Robert Mueller’s disastrous testimony before the House Judiciary and Intelligence Committees in July, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) appeared to throw in the towel on the idea of impeaching President Trump. He indicated that the best way to oust Trump would be at the ballot box. We all knew that wasn’t the end of his impeachment dreams.
On Friday, Schiff, who chairs the Intelligence Committee, issued a subpoena for Acting Director of National Intelligence Chief Joseph Maguire. Politico reported that Maguire is being accused of taking extraordinary steps to illegally withhold a whistleblower complaint from Congress that could potentially be covering up the president’s misconduct.
Schiff issued the following statement:
A Director of National Intelligence has never prevented a properly submitted whistleblower complaint that the [inspector general] determined to be credible and urgent from being provided to the congressional intelligence committees. Never. This raises serious concerns about whether White House, Department of Justice or other executive branch officials are trying to prevent a legitimate whistleblower complaint from reaching its intended recipient, the Congress, in order to cover up serious misconduct.”The Committee can only conclude, based on this remarkable confluence of factors, that the serious misconduct at issue involves the President of the United States and/or other senior White House or Administration officials.
President Trump appointed Maguire to this position in mid-August following the resignation of Dan Coats. Prior to this, he served as the Director of the National Counterterrorism Center.
The subpoena demands that Maguire submit the required material by September 17. If he fails to do so, “he will be compelled to appear before lawmakers on Capitol Hill on September 19.”
Politico reported that Maguire’s office replied with the following statement:
We received the HPSCI’s subpoena this evening. We are reviewing the request and will respond appropriately. The ODNI and Acting DNI Maguire are committed to fully complying with the law and upholding whistleblower protections and have done so here.
In addition to Schiff’s action on Friday, House Judiciary Committee chair Jerry Nadler (D-CA) announced that his committee had passed a resolution to establish the “investigative procedures,” the rules, they will follow during their impeachment inquiry. This resolution passed 24-17, along party lines.
Nadler told reporters, “There is no House rule requiring the House take a full vote. In light of this precedent, the committee has made clear it has full authority to conduct its investigation as to whether to recommend articles of impeachment.”
The increased efforts to target Trump coincide with the completion of DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz which was announced on Friday.
Last Monday, former US attorney Joe DiGenova said on a radio show that a copy of the report had been circulating inside and outside of the DOJ. According to him, the IG has concluded that the FBI’s initial FISA application and all three renewals were obtained illegally, which is extremely bad news for the Democrats. (The details can be read in this post: Buzz: IG Report Is ‘Being Circulated Inside And Outside’ Of The DOJ And Finds That FISA Warrants Were Illegally Obtained)
If DiGenova is correct, there’s no question that House Democrats are aware of the results and are bracing for bad news. They are responding in the only way they know how. Accuse, investigate, subpoena.
They acted similarly ahead of the release of the Mueller report. They clearly had knowledge long before the public that the Mueller team had not found sufficient evidence to recommend charges against Trump for either collusion or obstruction of justice.
Knowing that the releas would be a huge disappointment for them, they tried to get ahead of it by unleashing a flurry of new bogus charges and investigations against the President.
This is the way they operate. It didn’t work then and it won’t work now.
The problem for both Schiff and Nadler is that they’ve played the game too long. They lost an tremendous amount of credibility after the Mueller report was released. And Mueller’s appearance before Congress finished it. I imagine even their base doesn’t fully believe them even though they so desperately want to.
When they speak publicly now about the crimes of this president, it only serves to highlight the degree to which they’ve lost touch with reality.
I think what we’re witnessing is the death rattle of the deep state coup against President Trump.