TODAY IN CONGRESS (TIC):
Your One Stop Shop For Learning What Our Congress Critters Are Up To!
Today’s Headlines:
Senate Panel to Hear Testimony from Powell & Mnuchin TODAY!
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Details below.
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 — Pro Forma Session.
Senate —
10:00 am — Senate Banking Committee Hearing on the $2 trillion CARES Act coronavirus relief bill. (Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin testify before the Senate Banking Committee about the $2 trillion CARES Act coronavirus relief bill.)
10:00 am — Senate Session (Following leader remarks, the Senate will resume debate on the nomination Scott Rash to be United States District Judge for the District of Arizona.)
Monday’s Votes:
House — No Voting.
Senate — No significant votes.
Comments:
Today Events — Today’s recommended C-Span viewing event is the Senate Banking Committee Hearing. Besides being the only thing worth watching, there will probably be a couple of bombshells. First it will be interesting to see how Republicans react when Fed. Chief Jerome Powell tells them that Congress needs to do much, much more to head off a US financial catastrophe. Second, it will be fun to watch Mnuchin dance when he is grilled by Democrats about what he has done with the billions Congress appropriated for small business aid.
SPECIAL COMMENT —
Lawlessness — Ever since Trump took office, we have experienced a lawlessness within the Executive Branch that surpasses anything we have ever seen, including Nixon. Since the Senate failed to convict and remove him, Trump and his loyalists in his administration (e.g., Pence, Barr, Pompeo, Kushner, etc.) have learned an important lesson from impeachment, and it’s not the one Susan Collins had in mind. The lesson they have learned is that they can get away with ANYTHING, and they have proceeded to do so.
- From Kushner stealing PPE and test kits purchased by States and then hording them in
the Federal his personal stockpile;
- To Barr revising the sentencing recommendations of career DoJ Prosecutors to lessen the time Trump loyalist Roger Stone may spend in jail;
- To Trump getting revenge by firing or demoting everyone in the Executive Branch who had a part in his impeachment, including the Intelligence IG who gave the whistle-blower complaint to Congress, Col. Alexander Vindman who bravely told the truth about the Trump Ukraine extortion plot and Vindman’s brother who did nothing except be Vindman’s brother.
- To Barr trying to drop the charges against the already GUILTY Trump new found loyalist Michael Flynn;
- To Mnuchin manipulating and misappropriating Congressionally approved COVID-19 funds;
- To Pompeo illegally funneling arms to the Saudis;
- To Trump firing the State Department IG who was looking into Pompeo’s role in the illegal arms sales;
- To Trump loyalist Paul Manafort somehow getting released from a COVID free jail while Trump turncoat Michael Cohen is somehow brought back to finish his sentence in a COVID infested jail;
- To, you know, the list goes on and on. I am sure I have left our crap.
Trump and his Crime Family grow more and more embolden with each passing day as they continue to see no one stepping in to stop them.
Hopelessness — As I have watched the lawlessness progress to unbelievable levels a feeling of hopelessness wafts over me as I don’t see Congress doing anything effective to stop the Trump Crime Family. I hear Senator Chris Murphy on last night’s Maddow Show express the reality of the hopelessness when asked what he thought the GOP controlled Senate would do to try to reign in Trump’s lawlessness. His response was they will do NOTHING, or at best send a not so sternly worded letter. On the other side of the Capital, I also did not see any reason for hope. When House Judiciary Committee Chairman Larry Nadler was asked what he would do if Barr refused to appear before the Committee by his June deadline, he said he would subpoena him if necessary. Oh that worked so well the last time when Barr simply ignored the subpoena and the subsequent Contempt citation by Congress. So far Congress is viewed by the Trump Crime Family as a paper tiger who will not do what is necessary to stop him in his march towards Dictatorship.
An UNTOUCHABLES Lesson — If you remember the 1987 movie, there is a scene where the Chicago Cop Jimmy Malone tells Elliot Ness just what needs to be done to get the Mobster Capone. Watch below starting a 33 seconds in:
The pertinent dialogue goes like this:
You want to get Capone? Here’s how you get him. He pulls a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue!
Now let me be perfectly clear, I am NOT drawing any literal analogies between the lethal actions needed to take down Capone and the actions needed to take down the Trump Crime Family. I am strictly trying to draw a figurative analogy to try to illustrate what Congress needs to do stop Trump.
Specifically, they need to take the gloves off and use every Constitutional tool in their tool box, something they have been unwilling to do up until now. That means not only subpoenaing members of the Trump Crime Family, but enforcing those subpoenas. Not through the Courts which are too slow, but through the use of the Congressional power of Inherent Contempt. That means passing a Resolution in the House to clearly authorize Committees to use this enforcement tool and then have the Committee direct the Congressional Sgt. at Arms to physically arrest the no show witness and hold them until they agree to testify. This would send a powerful example to other would-be subpoena defiers that Congress is not fooling around. Yes, this sounds crazy and over the top, but I truly feel we are at a point with the Trump Crime Family that only drastic measures like these can stop them and at the same time prevent the Congress from becoming a toothless branch of government.
COMMITTEE ACTIVITY:
Introduction:
NOTE #s1 — 4: To keep this diary as short as possible while still providing a means for new readers to obtain a chronological history on each Committee Activity topic/event below, I have squirreled away the Background information on these topics in other previously posted diaries. So each topic’s Background section below will include links to my September 26, 2019 Diary for Background prior to November 22, my November 22, 2019, 2019 Diary for Background between November 22, 2019 and January 30, 2020, and my January 30, 2020 Diary for Background from January 30, 2020 until today. This and other regular TIC diaries will only include Recent Developments (stuff that happened the day before) and New Developments on each Committee topic/event. Also, I will discontinue posting Committee topics/events that have been inactive for weeks, but their histories will remain in the Background Diaries. If something new happens on these discontinued topics/events, I will bring them back from the dead and post it in the regular TIC.
Now on with the show. (New and Important stuff in bold)
House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis (NEW) —
Background — This Committee was born on the same day that the House passed CARES 3.5, by passage of H.Res. 938. As the name implies it will provide and coordinate oversight of the Trump Administration with regard to the Coronavirus Crisis. Also see my May 15 TIC for additional background.
Recent Developments — None.
New Developments — None
House Energy & Commerce Committee COVID-19 Hearings —
Background — See my May 12, 14 & 15 TICs.
Recent Developments — None.
New Developments — None.
Senate Health Committee to Hold COVID-19 Hearing —
Background — See my May 12 & 13 TICs.
Recent Developments — None.
New Developments — None.
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. Also, see my May 11 TIC.
Recent Developments — On Friday, May 15, the Supreme Court granted Trump’s Legal team’s request to temporarily block the lower court's order, which gave the DOJ a deadline of Monday to turn over the documents.
In an order signed by Chief Justice John Roberts, it further requested that lawyers for the House Judiciary Committee respond with arguments against why the unredacted Mueller documents should be turned over by May 18.
New Developments — Well as already posted in News Corpse's Diary, the Judiciary Committee filed its legal arguments. According to this CNN Story:
The Democratic-led House of Representatives on Monday told the Supreme Court that the House needs secret Mueller grand jury materials to determine if there is new evidence of impeachable offenses involving President Donald Trump.
"The Committee's impeachment investigation related to obstruction of justice pertaining to the Russia investigation is ongoing," Douglas Letter, the House general counsel,
said in a court filing Monday.
"If this material reveals new evidence supporting the conclusion that President Trump committed impeachable offenses," Letter said, "the Committee will proceed accordingly -- including, if necessary, by considering whether to recommend new articles of impeachment."
Now don’t read too much into this. The House is trying to get SCOTUS to not hear this case, so they are using the most powerful Congressional argument it has in its tool box, and that is impeachment which SCOTUS should be obligated to respect. If SCOTUS were to agree to hear the case instead of letting the lower court ruling stand, it is unlikely that the House would get the documents before the end of the year possibly rendering impeachment moot. We should find out soon.
House Judiciary Committee McGahn Subpoena —
Background — Pre-Nov. 22 CLICK HERE. Nov. 22 to Jan. 30 CLICK HERE. Post Jan 30 CLICK HERE. Also, see my May 5 TIC for details on the April 28 DC Circuit Court (virtual) Hearing in this case.
Recent Developments — None.
New Developments — None, awaiting Court Ruling.
House Judiciary & Intelligence Committee News —
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. Also, see my May 11 TIC.
Recent Developments — None.
New Developments — None.
House Intelligence Committee Flynn Subpoena —
Background — Pre-Nov. 22 CLICK HERE. Nov. 22 to Jan. 30 CLICK HERE. Post Jan 30 CLICK HERE. Also, see my May 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 & 15 TICs.
Recent Developments — None.
New Developments — According to CNN:
Fifteen Republican state attorneys general on Monday told a federal judge they support the Trump administration dismissing former national security adviser Michael Flynn's criminal charge and warned the judge of overstepping his authority.
In a legal brief obtained by CNN, the Republican attorneys general wrote they believed that Judge Emmet Sullivan's questioning of the Justice Department was the court "inserting itself" into "prosecutorial discretion" and politics.
They urged Sullivan to dismiss the case, ending Flynn's legal jeopardy. They also asked him to dismiss Flynn's charge "without irrelevant or personal comment."
Lots of Luck fellas! The Judge isn’t going to let this drop.
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. Also, see my May 11 , 12 , 13 & 14 TICs.
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, awaiting SCOTUS rulings.
THAT’S IT FOR TODAY! Stay Healthy All!