TODAY IN CONGRESS (TIC):
Your One Stop Shop For Learning What Our Congress Critters Are Up To!
Here Are The Headlines:
House in Session TODAY (SATURDAY) to Pass a Bill to Save the Postal Service and Our DEMOCRACY!
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Trump Suffers Another Loss in Manhattan DA Tax Returns & Financial Records Case
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 Session (Members will reconvene in a special Saturday session to consider legislation related to the United States Postal Service.)
Senate — Not in Session.
Friday Votes:
House — No votes.
Senate — No votes.
Comments:
Legislative (IN-) Action —
H.R.6800 - HEROES Act — Well here we are at Day 102 (by my count) since the House passed the HEROES Act (a comprehensive Bill to provide additional Federal Aid related to the health and economic hardships caused by COVID-19) and the Senate GOP is not in town.
Legislative Action —
H.R. 8015 — Delivering For America Act (Postal Service Bill) — Today the House will vote on and pass “H.R. 8015 — the Delivering For America Act”. You can read the marked up Bill (post-Riles Committee version) HERE. In a nutshell, as reported by CNN:
As CNN has previously reported, the revised "Delivering for America Act" includes $25 billion in additional USPS funding and would explicitly prohibit any operational changes made this year that impede service. The six-page bill would also require that all official election mail be treated as "first-class mail," prohibit the removal of mail sorting machines and mailboxes and reverse any already implemented changes that could delay mail delivery.
Pretty clear and straight forward if you ask me.
It has been reported that this Bill has some GOP supporters in the House, but just how many Republican votes it gets in the House remains to be seen. Also, what, if anything Mitch does with it when it reaches his Senate desk, is unknown. But Trump’s position on this Bill to preserve our postal system and our democracy is now crystal clear. From CNN:
"The Administration strongly opposes passage of H.R. 8015. Instead of reforming the United States Postal Service (USPS) to ensure its continued viability in the modern economy, H.R. 8015 would arbitrarily give USPS $25 billion in 'emergency' taxpayer funding, without linking that funding to either the COVID-19 pandemic or the upcoming election," the statement released by the Office of Management and Budget reads in part.
The statement also accuses Democrats of trying to "exploit the COVID-19 pandemic as a pretext for placing counterproductive restrictions on USPS's already limited operational flexibilities."
The statement also claims that the "USPS has not changed its service standards this year," but as CNN has reported, internal USPS documents clearly show that
USPS planned some policy changes that could have resulted in longer delivery times for ballots, though that policy has since been reversed.
No surprise here. Why would Trump sign a Bill that would save our public postal system and our democracy when it would thwart Team Trump’s plans to fix the election, keep him in the White House and thereby keep him out of jail.
Today’s C-Span TV Picks — The House debate and vote on H.R. 8015 — the Delivering For America Act is today’s watch pick. Because it’s the only game going on in Congress on a Saturday.
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 Oversight & Reform Committee Postal Investigation —
Background — None.
Recent Developments — Unless you live under a rock, by now you know that:
“The House Oversight Committee will hold an emergency hearing on mail delays and concerns about potential White House interference in the U.S. Postal Service, inviting Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and Postal Service board of governors Chairman Robert M. Duncan to testify Aug. 24, top Democrats announced on [last] Sunday.”
And that DeJoy has agreed to appear (I believe Duncan has also agreed). I will get to what might happen in this Hearing on my Monday TIC Post. But first I would like to cover a little background on the latest rapidly changing chronology of developments featuring Mr. DeJoy.
After pressure from the upcoming Hearings and the flood of lawsuits against his actions, DeJoy appeared to backtrack on his destructive orders. From this Hunter Post:
DeJoy claims that as a result, post office hours will not change, mail processing and collection equipment will not be removed, "no mail processing facilities will be closed," and "we reassert that overtime has, and will continue to be, approved as needed."
Notice he only says overtime will be approved “as needed” and does not say he will undo the destruction of mail collection and sorting equipment he has already accomplished. So Pelosi saying his semi-backtracking was totally inadequate, called him on these points. According to Pelosi’s account of her phone call to DeJoy (described in this Joan McCarter Post):
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi spoke with U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy Wednesday, a conversation in which he "frankly admitted that he had no intention of replacing the sorting machines, blue mailboxes and other key mail infrastructure," she said in a statement. She says she spoke with him to let him know that his announcement Tuesday that he was suspending certain policy changes that have crippled mail service "is not a solution and is misleading."
"The Postmaster General's alleged pause is wholly insufficient and does not reverse damage already wreaked," Pelosi wrote. In addition to the key infrastructure he's refusing to replace, he admitted "that plans for adequate overtime, which is critical for the timely delivery of mail, are not in the works."
Then, not only will DeJoy not undo the destruction he has already ordered, it appears it is continuing despite his statement to the contrary. Here’s a report from the field courtesy of this Kerry Eleveld Post:
“Internal sources say mail sorting machines are being dismantled at downtown GR post office,” reporter Heather Walker tweeted Wednesday. “Process started yesterday. Order came from Postmaster General DeJoy.”
Process started yesterday—the same day that Trump-appointed Postmaster General Louis DeJoy supposedly said he would “suspend” the changes he’s been implementing that have slowed mail delivery to a crawl across the country.
As Rachel Maddow often says about Trump and his lackeys, “Pay no attention to what they say, just watch what they do.” That certainly applies in this case. In any event, Mr. DeJoy certainly has some Splain’en to do come Hearing day.
New Developments — None.
Senate Intelligence Committee Trump/Russia Investigation —
Background — None.
Recent Developments — Again, put this in the category of old news, but old news gets old quick these days. Anyway, the Senate Intelligence Committee came out with the final segment of their Report on the Committee’s Investigation into the Trump/Russia 2016 Election Interference, and boy did they save the best for last. Here are the highlights from The Other Doctor Who's Diary:
The Senate Intelligence Committee released Tuesday the most comprehensive and meticulous examination to date explaining how Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election and the Trump campaign welcomed the foreign adversary's help, revealing new information about contacts between Russian officials and associates of President Donald Trump during and after the campaign.
Among the key findings:
- That then-campaign chairman Paul Manafort was working with Konstantin Kilimnik, a Russian intelligence officer, and sought to share internal campaign information with Kilimnik. The committee says it obtained "some information suggesting Kilimnik may have been connected" to Russia's 2016 hacking operation.
- That Russian-government actors continued until at least January 2020 to spread disinformation about Russia's election interference, and that Manafort and Kilimnik both sought to promote the narrative that Ukraine, and not Russia interfered in the 2016 election.
- That Russia took advantage of the Trump transition team's inexperience and opposition to Obama administration policies "to pursue unofficial channels," and it's likely that Russian intelligence services and others acting on the Kremlin's behalf exploited the Transition's shortcomings for Russia's advantage.
In addition to the above, the report leaves little doubt that there WAS COLLUSION between the Trump Campaign and Russian Operatives/Spys. It also suggests, if not outright concludes that Trump lied under oath at least once in his written testimony to the Mueller Team.
Now some may be inclined to applaud the GOP Senators who signed this report. Afterall, it does not seem to pull many punches and they did release it before, not after the 2020 election. But I’m inclined to hold my applause for two reasons:
1. It’s Too Late! This should have been released back in 2019 either in concert with or shortly after the release of the Mueller Report. Back then there was still time to utilize its finding in an impeachment investigation of Trump’s 2016 election crimes.
2. These GOP Senators were fully aware of what was in this report back in early 2020 when they decided to acquit Donald Trump during his impeachment trial.
Now it just makes all that has happened since (e.g., the Manafort light sentence, the reversal on Flynn, the pardoning of Stone, etc.) seem all that much worse.
Before I move on, a little side commentary on my part if you don’t mind.
There has been some bashing of Robert Muller going on here since this Senate Report came out. Some say that Mueller failed to identify Collusion in his report, and that the Mueller Report did not contain certain critical details identified in the Senate Report, and that he failed to point out the instances of perjury in Trump’s written testimony. At the risk of sounding like I’m defending Mueller, let me point out a few facts concerning the above criticisms:
1. Mueller saw his job as one of a Prosecutor operating within the confines of the law. If you recall, he said upfront in his Report that he was not going to investigate Trump/Russia “collusion” because “collusion” was not a statutory crime. Instead, he indicated that he investigated the crime of “Conspiracy Against the United States” and in the end concluded that there was insufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that such a crime had been committed by those in the Trump campaign. Mueller also indicated in his report that some evidence had been previously destroyed and that he was further hampered in any criminal prosecution of “conspiracy” by lies told by Manafort and others.
2. It is not appropriate to conclude that Mueller left things out of his report that were in the Senate Report because portions of the Mueller Report were redacted and remain hidden from the public to this day. The alleged omissions could be behind the redactions.
3. Mueller also said in his report that he was following DoJ policy that precludes the Federal prosecution of a sitting President, and as such his report neither indicts or absolves Trump of any crimes. He also strongly inferred that Congress should followup and do its job if it considered he had identified any impeachable offenses when it comes to President Trump.
In a nutshell, I feel Mueller was a straight shooter who operated within the constitutional, legal and policy boundaries he was given. Others are free to disagree.
New Developments — One important thing in the Senate Report that I missed was pointed out to me in a comment on my Friday TIC by Animator9 was what it said about son Donald Jr. and son-in-law Jared Kushner.
One element that seems surprisingly under-reported from the Senate Intelligence Committee Report, I read that the Senate Intel Committee made criminal referrals of Don Jr. and Jared Kushner.
Why isn’t this being more widely reported even in diaries like this? Where are reporter’s questions to barr or trump or other mouthpieces about this? What happened to those referrals?
This would seem to be huge bombshell, yet it’s barely mentioned anywhere.
I Agree! Why is Salon the only one reporting this?
Senate Homeland Security Committee Postal Service Investigation —
Background — None.
Recent Developments — So today we have a Friday Senate Homeland Security Committee Hearing regarding the Postal Service featuring its newest and Trumpiest Postmaster General Louis DeJoy. So how did we get here? Well after House Democrats announced their Monday, August 24 Hearing featuring Mr. DeJoy, Senate Committee Chairman (and latest Trump Fixer) Ron Johnson decided to try to beat Democrats to the punch, but with different motives. As detailed in this Joan McCarter Post:
Senate Republicans are getting in on the "protect the Postal Service" game, but their latest move definitely calls into question their intentions in doing so. Sen. Ron "Genius" Johnson of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee has scheduled a hearing for Friday with Postmaster General Louis DeJoy before the House votes on the Postal Service on Saturday and grills DeJoy on Monday. What Johnson wants him to testify about, according to Washington Post sources, is the Postal Service’s "vote-by-mail financial requirements."
More to the point, Johnson "is expected to press DeJoy on whether the Postal Service truly needs the $25 billion in emergency funding that the House has pushed." Guess what answer Johnson is trying to get the day before House Democrats are scheduled to vote on a bill that includes $25 billion in emergency funding for the Postal Service as well as forcing resumption of services to their pre-coronavirus levels, including restoring mailboxes and sorting machines. Johnson's entire purpose appears to be to set up the House Democrats by "proving" that the Postal Service doesn't need that money.
Lot’s of luck with that Ron, based on the public opinion polls I mentioned earlier. Besides the fact that he will convince absolutely no one today that the Postal Service doesn’t need money, Ron has made two other huge blunders in calling DeJoy to testify. One is he has given Democrats two shots at hammering DeJoy instead of one (once in the Senate and once in the House). The other is it allows House Democrats to pour over DeJoy’s Senate testimony over the weekend, allowing them to come up with followup questions and possibly catch him in a perjury trap. Anyway, get your popcorn ready and settle in for some C-Span TV fireworks TODAY!
New Developments — I will cover the results of this Hearing on Monday. Trying not to work too hard on a Saturday.
House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis —
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 & Aug. 5 TICs for additional background.
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 , 19, 20, June 5 & July 21 TICs.
Recent Developments — None.
New Developments — None.
House Judiciary Committee McGahn Subpoena —
Background — Pre-Nov. 22 CLICK HERE. Nov. 22 to Jan. 30 CLICK HERE. Post Jan 30 CLICK HERE. See my May 5 TIC for details on the April 28 DC Circuit Court (virtual) Hearing in this case. Also, see my Aug. 13 TIC.
Recent Developments — None.
New Developments — None.
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, June 5, 8, 11, 15 & July 22 TICs.
Recent Developments — None.
New Developments — None.
House Judiciary Committee Barr Whistleblowers (Berman & Others) —
Background — See my June 24, 25, 29, July 21, 22, 29 & 30 TICs.
Recent Developments — By now you know that Steve Bannon was arrested on charges of mail fraud brought by the SDNY US Attorney. So I won’t go into the details. But what got me thinking is the connection between this arrest and the firing of the former US Attorney of the SDNY, Geoffrey Berman, as described in this AlyoshaKaramozov Diary. If you remember, Berman would not step down until Barr agreed to appoint his trusted Deputy SDNY Attorney Audrey Straus, his successor. He new that she would uphold apolitical justice in the historic independent spirit of the SDNY. Now we see this Attorney indicting Steve Bannon. Coincidence?
New Developments — None.
House Judiciary & 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 , 19, 20, 27, June3, 5, 8, 11, 15, 18, 23, 29 , July 22, Aug. 4, 13 & 21 TICs.
Recent Developments — None.
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. Also, see my May 11 , 12 , 13, 14, July 22, 23, 29 & Aug. 4, 5, 7 & 13 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. Vance (Criminal Case) — Case brought by Trump against against the Manhattan DA for Trump’s tax returns and other financial records. Trump is attempting to block a subpoena from the Manhattan DA to Mazars (the Trump Organization’s former Accounting Firm). 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 — Case #3 — A federal judge on Thursday dismissed Donald Trump's second attempt to block the Manhattan District Attorney from obtaining eight years of both his personal and corporate tax returns and other relevant financial records. As detailed in Kerry Eleveld's Post:
Importantly, U.S. Judge Victor Marrero dismissed Trump's legal challenge with prejudice, signaling he has made a final determination on the merits of the case and forbidding Trump from filing another lawsuit on the same grounds. Manhattan prosecutors have argued that Trump's lawyers are simply trying to run out the clock on the statute of limitations. Trump’s lawyers plan to appeal the ruling, making the next stop for the case the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.
Not only is Trump’s losing streak in Court continuing, it seems to be accelerating. I would be surprised if the DA gets Trump’s financial records in a matter of weeks, not months.
New Developments — Case #3 — Trump suffers another setback in his bid to prevent the Manhattan DA’s Grand Jury from enforcing the Mazar’s subpoena for his tax returns and other financial records. According to this CNN Report:
A federal appeals court denied President Donald Trump's attempt to halt the enforcement of a subpoena for his financial records but at the same time set a rapid schedule for oral arguments in the case, leaving a window of several days where prosecutors could seek to obtain the President's tax returns.
The ruling from the Second Circuit Court of Appeals came hours after the President's lawyers requested an emergency stay, or hold, on the subpoena.
Under a previous arrangement, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance agreed not to enforce the subpoena until seven days after the district court ruled. That deadline would expire next week.
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals scheduled oral arguments on whether to grant a "stay" for September 1, raising the possibility that Trump's financial records and tax returns could be turned over to prosecutors before the hearing -- unless the President takes the case up to the Supreme Court or Vance's office agrees to hold off for the appeals' court decision.
A few important points that I will briefly cover:
1. This case is now moving at legal light speed. Even if Vance agrees to hold off enforcing the Subpoena until after the September 1 Hearing or the Supreme intervenes, we are still looking at only a few weeks before this case is wrapped up, and it’s not looking likely that Trump will win.
2. Even if the DA does get Trump’s financial records from Mazars in a few weeks, they will not likely be made public before the election since Grand Jury proceedings are secret until an indictment is filed.
3. Remember this is more than the Stormy Daniels payoff. This is about Trump committing Bank Fraud and/or Tax Fraud by both under valuing properties on his tax returns and over valuing them on his Deutsche Bank loan applications. The DA already has the Deutsche Bank Records, now he just needs the taxes.
THAT’S IT FOR TODAY! HAVE A FUN WEEKEND!