TODAY IN CONGRESS (TIC):
Your One Stop Shop For Learning What Our Congress Critters Are Up To!
Here’s today’s schedule with the events I think may be the most interesting in bold. You can watch C-Span HERE. NOTE: Sometimes C-Span posts additional Congressional events not on my list, later in the day.
Today’s Events:
House —
10:00 am — House Morning Session (General Speeches)
10:00 am — House Budget Committee Hearing on President's 2021 Budget Request (Acting Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought testifies on President Trump’s 2021 budget proposal before the House Budget Committee.)
10:00 am — House Oversight and Reform Committee Hearing on 2020 Census (U.S. Census Bureau Director Steven Dillingham testifies on the 2020 Census before the House Oversight and Reform Committee.)
12:00 pm — House Session (The House meets for legislative business and is expected to take up the Protecting America’s Wilderness Act of 2019.)
Senate —
9:30 am — Senate Session (The Senate meets to consider judicial nominations and begin debate on a war powers resolution that would limit U.S. military action against Iran.)
10:00 am — Senate Banking Committee Hearing on Economy & Monetary Policy (Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell testifies for the second day in a row on Capitol Hill. Following testimony on the House side the previous day, he testifies before the Senate Banking Committee.)
1:00 pm — Senate Finance Committee Hearing on President's 2021 Budget Request (Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin testifies before the Senate Finance Committee on the president’s 2021 budget request to Congress.)
Tuesday’s Votes:
House — No significant votes.
Senate — No significant votes.
Comments:
Today’s Events – Things are finally starting to heat up in Congress again after the post-impeachment slump. Well, amazingly my Number One C-Span watch pick of the day is the Senate Floor session, which almost never happens because Mitch never lets them have any fun. But, today after finishing up some boring nomination business #MoscowMitch WILL allow the Senate to take up two resolutions passed by the House restricting Trump’s use of military power, as I predicted yesterday. One is the termination of the President’s Authorization on the Use of Military Force stemming from the 911 attack and the other is preventing the President from starting a war with Iran without authorization from Congress. This should be a heated debate since besides Democrats look for Republican Senators Mike Lee and Rand Paul advocate passionately for passage of these limitations on the President’s military power, while I assume Lindsey Graham and his fellow Trump butt kissers will strongly oppose it. It will be interesting to see if after saving Trump’s butt with a phony impeachment trial, the Senate will have enough balls to reign in the “would-be” Dictator. Also, the House and Senate Hearings on Trump’s 2021 “Let-Them-Eat-Cake” Budget may also be worth a glance.
Tuesday’s Votes — Nothing significant voted on in either House yesterday. In the Senate #MoscowMitch has gone back to confirming nominations which I suspect he will continue to do at least until January 20, 2021 even if the Orange Turd get’s voted out.
COMMITTEE ACTIVITY:
Introduction:
NOTE #1: Each background section will include a link to my September 26 Diary containing the full backgrounds for those who need to get up to speed. Below, I will post only recent developments (stuff that happened the day before) and any new developments.
NOTE #2: I have removed the Committee subpoenas that have been inactive for weeks. You can still find out about them in my September 26 Diary (CLICK HERE). Also, I will still keep a check on them and if something new happens in any of them, I will post it in future TIC diaries.
NOTE #3: Well my September 26 Diary containing the full backgrounds on each of the subpoena and impeachment activities has gotten too long, so the character limit has made it impossible for me to use this diary to post new background information. So starting November 22, I have posted background information from November 22 going forward in this November 22 Background #2 Diary and I will keep it updated until I run out of space again. I have put in a new link to the November 22 TIC for you to access it in each Committee Activity below. I have also kept the old link to the September 26 Diary so you can obtain the pre-November 22 background information.
NOTE #4: Well my September 26 Diary and my November 22 Diary containing the full backgrounds on each of the subpoena and impeachment activities below have both gotten too long, so the character limit has made it impossible for me to use these diaries to continue to post new background information. So starting January 30, I have posted background information from January 30 going forward in this January 30 Background Diary #3 and I will keep it updated until I run out of space again. I have put in a new link to the January 30 TIC Diary for you to access it in each Committee Activity below. I have also kept the old links to the September 26 and November 22 Diaries so you can obtain all the pre-January 30 background information.
Now on with the show. (New and Important stuff in bold)
House Judiciary Committee Barr Subpoena for Mueller Grand Jury Materials —
Background — Pre-Nov. 22 CLICK HERE. Nov. 22 to Jan. 30 CLICK HERE. Post Jan 30 CLICK HERE.
Recent Developments — None.
New Developments — None, still awaiting decision by Appeals Court Three Judge Panel.
House Judiciary Committee McGahn Subpoena —
Background — Pre-Nov. 22 CLICK HERE. Nov. 22 to Jan. 30 CLICK HERE. Post Jan 30 CLICK HERE.
Recent Developments — None.
New Developments — None. We’re still awaiting decision by Appeals Court Three Judge Panel.
House Oversight Committee Files Lawsuit to Enforce its Subpoenas to Wilbur Ross (Commerce Secretary) and AG William Barr —
Background — Pre-Nov. 22 CLICK HERE. Nov. 22 to Jan. 30 CLICK HERE. Post Jan 30 CLICK HERE.
Recent Developments — None.
New Developments — None, awaiting Federal Judge’s decision.
House Judiciary & Intelligence Committees’ Investigations —
NOTE #1: This used to be the “House Intelligence Committee’s Whistleblower Investigation”. Then it was titled the “House Intelligence, & Judiciary Committees’ Impeachment Investigation”. Then it was titled the “House & Senate Impeachment Proceedings.” But since Trump’s first impeachment is over, I have changed the heading again.
Background — Pre-Nov. 22 CLICK HERE. Nov. 22 to Jan. 30 CLICK HERE. Post Jan 30 CLICK HERE.
Recent Developments — Here are some recent events:
- NSA & CIA Withholding Ukraine Documents — By now you may have already heard about Chairman Schiff accusing the NSA and CIA from withholding Trump/Ukraine documents from the House Intelligence Committee. But if not, let me catch you up. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said Sunday that the U.S. intelligence community is beginning to withhold documents on Ukraine from Congress as lawmakers prepare for the impeachment trial of President Trump. "They appear to be succumbing to pressure from the administration," Schiff said on ABC's "This Week." "The NSA, in particular, is withholding what are potentially relevant documents to our oversight responsibilities on Ukraine...”
What one has to keep in mind about this is that the Congressional Intelligence Committees are routinely provided such documents from the Intelligence Agencies without question. While such documents are often classified and hidden from the public, they are not supposed to be withheld from these Congressional Committees, EVER! Which is what makes this so Authoritarian-ly unusual.
- Routine Intelligence Committee Briefing Delayed — A House Intelligence Committee public hearing scheduled for next week has been canceled, pushing back the U.S. intelligence community's presentation on the top threats facing America. "We are still having productive discussions with the committees on the timing of the Worldwide Threat Assessment hearings," a spokesperson for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence told CBS News on Friday. So why is it being delayed? Well, the U.S. intelligence community is trying to persuade House and Senate lawmakers to drop the public portion of an annual briefing on the globe’s greatest security threats — a move compelled by last year’s session that provoked an angry outburst from President Donald Trump. Officials from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, on behalf of the larger clandestine community, don’t want agency chiefs to be seen on-camera as disagreeing with the president on big issues such as Iran, Russia or North Korea, according to three people familiar with preliminary negotiations over what's known as the Worldwide Threats hearing. The fear of Dictator Trump continues and is spreading among Executive Branch employees.
- Still Trying To Out The Whistle-blower — The disgusting Trump Congressional Spy, David Nunes is still trying to out the Ukraine-Gate Whistle-blower so Trump can put his/her head on a pike. Rep. Devin Nunes, the ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee, gave Inspector General Michael Atkinson until Friday to hand over information that could help illuminate questions surrounding the timeline and procedural protocol used to vet the whistleblower complaint that centered on Trump's July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, according to a Friday letter obtained by the Washington Examiner. The California Republican decried what he called the "unusual handling" of the complaint process and said he will refer the matter to the Justice Department if Atkinson's office refuses to comply after months of outreach. Obvious attempt at revenge against the whistle-blower since remember it was revealed by Parnas that Nunes was involved in Ukraine-Gate himself so he probably knows more about it than the whistle-blower.
New Developments — None. Wow, I can’t remember when there were no new developments on Trump investigations, but I can’t find a single new thing. It’s an event. Although, in this post-impeachment time period, there is a lot going on behind the scenes on the question of what to do next.
House Intelligence Committee Flynn Subpoena —
Background — Pre-Nov. 22 CLICK HERE. Nov. 22 to Jan. 30 CLICK HERE. Post Jan 30 CLICK HERE.
Recent Developments — After bringing on a new set of lawyers, doing a 180 degree turn on his DoJ Cooperation Agreement and petitioning to withdraw his guilty at the last minute, Flynn has once again succeeded in postponing the justice he so richly deserves.
A judge has indefinitely postponed former national security adviser Michael Flynn’s sentencing on a charge of lying to the FBI as Flynn presses to withdraw the guilty plea he entered more than two years ago in a case prosecuted by special counsel Robert Mueller. Flynn had been set for sentencing Feb. 27, but U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan announced on Monday that he was canceling the hearing “until further order of the court.” Sullivan set deadlines for more filings through early March, making it unlikely the retired Army general and former Defense Intelligence Agency chief will be sentenced anytime soon. The judge has said he may hold a hearing on Flynn’s request to withdraw his plea, and that could involve live testimony from Flynn and his former lawyers.
What’s interesting about this though is something mentioned on last night’s Maddow Show. It seems the lead DoJ Prosecutor in the Flynn case, a man named Brandon Van Grack, a former member of special counsel Robert Mueller’s team who has been the lead attorney on the case since its outset, was suddenly taken off the case, which is now being overseen by Tim Shea, the new, interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia appointed last month by Attorney General William Barr. It seems as soon as Grack was gone, Barr’s new man had a letter fired off to the Judge in the Flynn late Sunday night requesting an open ended delay in Flynn’s sentencing with no apparent reason given. If you don’t smell a rat here, you haven’t got a nose.
New Developments — None.
House Committees Subpoenas/Requests for Trump Banking/Financial Records & Taxes:
Background — Pre-Nov. 22 CLICK HERE. Nov. 22 to Jan. 30 CLICK HERE. Post Jan 30 CLICK HERE.
NOTE: In previous TICs, there were 3 separate topic threads (1. Deutsche/Capital One Bank Subpoenas, 2. Mazars’ Subpoena, and 3. Trump Taxes) covering 5 different court cases. Since they are all dealing with the same general topic (Trump’s hidden financial history) and were starting to get intertwined in my brain, I have rolled them all under the single header above to hopefully make things less confusing.
Also, to further help keep things organized, below are the five (5) ongoing court cases dealing with Trump’s Banking/Financial Records and tax returns.
1. Trump vs. Deutsche Bank and Capital One — Case brought by Trump against the the two banks in an effort to block a subpoena from the House Financial Services and Intelligence Committees for the Trump Organization’s banking records, including tax returns.
2. Trump vs. Mazars (Congressional Case) — Congressional Mazar’s case brought by Trump against Mazars (the Trump Organization’s former Accounting Firm) in an effort to block a subpoena from the House Oversight and Reform Committee for the Trump Organization’s financial records, including tax returns.
3. Trump vs. Mazars (Criminal Case) — Case brought by Trump against against Mazars (the Trump Organization’s former Accounting Firm) in an effort to block a subpoena from the Manhattan DA for Trump’s tax returns. The DA has subpoenaed these takes returns in conjunction with his criminal investigation of Trump’s hush money pay off to Stormy Daniels.
4. Congress vs. the IRS & Treasury Department (Trump’s Federal Tax Returns) — This case is a lawsuit brought by the House Ways & Means Committee against the IRS and Treasury Department for their failure to turn over Trump’s tax returns upon the Committee’s request as required BY LAW.
5. Trump vs. NYS Tax Department (Trump’s State Tax Returns) — This case is a lawsuit brought by Trump to block NYS from turning over his State tax returns to Congress.
I will use these case #s below to help keep things organized.
Recent Developments — None.
New Developments — None.
House Committees’ Iran Assassination Investigation —
Background — Nov. 22 to Jan. 30 CLICK HERE. Post Jan 30 CLICK HERE.
Recent Developments — None.
New Developments — None.
BTW — Before I end today’s TIC, I would like to explain a couple of things. First, I am not covering the BREAKING NEWS regarding AG Barr’s intervention in the Roger Stone case, because it’s not “Congress Related”, at least not yet anyway. I am covering the Flynn case however since he was subpoenaed by the House a while back which is why I am covering it here. I don’t believe Stone was ever subpoenaed. Also, I am grappling with whether I should cover the Senate Judiciary Committee’s upcoming investigations into the Bidens. On one hand it is definitely “Congress Related” so to be fair I should cover it. But, on the other hand I feel that I shouldn’t cover this SHAM investigation since it just helps perpetuate the Republicans politically motivated dirt digging false narrative. After all I never intended my TIC posts to be non-partisan.
AS PORKY WOULD SAY: “THAT’SSSSSSS ALL FFFFFFOLKS!