41 thoughts on “This week’s Witnesses , the witless and the wit-ness”

  1. the hill:

    A U.S. district judge denied the Justice Department’s request for a stay on testimony from former White House counsel Don McGahn.

    U.S. District Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote in a 17-page opinion that a long-term stay on her opinion last week requiring McGahn testify in front of the House Judiciary Committee could cause “grave harm” to the investigation. 

    “This Court has no doubt that further delay of the Judiciary Committee’s enforcement of its valid subpoena causes grave harm to both the Committee’s investigation and the interests of the public more broadly,” Jackson wrote.

    The judge, who was appointed by former President Obama, also decided to remove a temporary stay she agreed upon last week while the case moved up to the U.S. Court of Appeals. The Justice Department was advocating for a long-term stay.

    She added that the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) chances of winning the appeal were “exceedingly low.”

    “DOJ also does not, and cannot, deny that whatever additional information that the Committee (and the public) might glean from McGahn’s live testimony will be lost if the Judiciary Committee does not have an opportunity to question him prior to any House vote on impeachment,” she wrote.

    The Hill reached out to the Justice Department for comment.

    Jackson decided last week that the president could not prevent McGahn from testifying and being subject to congressional oversight because history shows “Presidents are not kings.”

    A Jan. 3 hearing with a three-judge panel has been scheduled for the Justice Department’s appeal. Two of those judges were appointed by Republican presidents, Politico reported. 

    The department has said it would bring the request to the Supreme Court if necessary. Chief Justice John Roberts could grant a temporary stay against the subpoena, but five justices would need to support a longer stay for it to go into effect, according to Politico. 

    Former special counsel Robert Mueller’s report published in April detailed McGahn’s knowledge about the president’s alleged efforts to stop the Russia investigation. McGahn’s testimony could help House Democrats determine if they want to include Mueller report accusations in the articles of impeachment.

  2. also from the hill:

    The House Judiciary Committee on Monday unveiled a witness panel of four constitutional scholars for its first impeachment hearing this week. 

    Titled “The Impeachment Inquiry into President Donald J. Trump: Constitutional Grounds for Presidential Impeachment,” Wednesday’s hearing will feature testimony from four law professors: Noah Feldman, a professor at Harvard Law School and director of the Julis-Rabinowitz Program on Jewish and Israeli Law; Pamela Karlan, a professor of public interest law at Stanford Law School; Michael Gerhardt, a professor at the University of North Carolina School of Law; and Jonathan Turley, a professor of public interest law at George Washington University Law School.
     
    Turley is also an opinion contributor for The Hill. 
     

    Unlike the House Intelligence Committee hearings last month, the witnesses won’t offer firsthand accounts of what they knew about Trump’s actions with regard to Ukraine. Instead, the constitutional scholars are expected to offer legal analysis.
     
    Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) framed the hearing as an opportunity to “discuss the constitutional framework through which the House may analyze the evidence gathered in the present inquiry.”
    […]
    The Judiciary Committee’s first hearing in the impeachment inquiry will take place after the House Intelligence Committee is expected to approve a report on Tuesday on its findings in its investigation of Trump’s efforts to push the Ukrainian government to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and the 2016 election.

    House Democratic leaders have not publicly set a timeline for completing the impeachment process, but many believe they are aiming to wrap up consideration of articles of impeachment by Christmas.

     

  3. Well… the weatherman got that wrong.  The storm was suppose to spin out toward the east and hit mostly eastern Massachusetts over night…  and we were suppose to get “maybe” another 3-4 inches. Nope…   woke up to another 14″ of freshly fallen snow.  That makes 34″ in total so far…  and it’s still snowing.
    Kids are happy…  they get their second day in a row off from school.

  4. Renee, I guess the ski area managers are doing a jig about now.  Anyone who wants to go to Loon Mountain over the Christmas break better book early – as in now.
    So we’re one month from seeing whether 2 Republican appointed Appeals Court judges will agree with Judge Jackson and be called never Trumpers by SFB.  In this case I’m guessing one will.

  5. Pogo…  Rick never skis Xmas week.  We always go up there for the first week of March.  Which means that we’ll be up there for SuperTuesday.  It’ll be good to have something to look forward to…  beside the hot tub 🙂

  8. The Senators need to hear from their constituents.
    Susan Collins the worst kind of elected official  pretending again that she is willing to be open-minded when she is really the worst kind of gooper.

  10. wapo:

    Appeals court refuses to block House subpoena for Trump’s financial records

    The ruling orders Deutsche Bank and Capital One to comply with the request for records

     

  11. excerpt from above:

    The New York-based appeals court upheld Congress’s broad investigative authority and ordered Deutsche Bank and Capital One to comply with the House subpoenas for the president’s financial information. The court gave the president seven days to seek review by the Supreme Court in the case, which predates the public impeachment proceedings in the House.

     

    In a 106-page ruling, the court said the House committees’ “interests in pursuing their constitutional legislative function is a far more significant public interest than whatever public interest inheres in avoiding the risk of a Chief Executive’s distraction arising from disclosure of documents reflecting his private financial transactions.”

     

    “The Committees have already been delayed in the receipt of the subpoenaed material since April 11 when the subpoenas were issued. They need the remaining time to analyze the material, hold hearings, and draft bills for possible enactment,” according to the ruling written by Judge Jon O. Newman, who was joined by Judge Peter W. Hall.

  12. Harris should raise some $$$$ and campaign for impeachment in the states with grand old perverts up for re-election
     
    Susan Collins……

  14. Biden on Harris: “She is a first-rate intellect, a first-rate candidate and a real competitor. I have mixed emotions about it because she is really a solid, solid person and loaded with talent. ” 

  17. Craig…  if it is true that this was coordinated by Harris and Biden….  IMO…   smart move on both their parts.  That’s a ticket that I could support.

  18. I invite you all to join me in requesting of our Representatives and Senators that they author and push a law to make it a felony for any citizen of the United States or United States corporation, to own any golf or boating resort or any hotel, or any part or share thereof, directly or indirectly, in the cities of Moscow or St Petersburg in russia until January 1, 2070.
    Let’s see if the racist rapist russian agent can keep his cool about this.

  19. I could support Biden/Harris but for now my off/on flirtation with Harris is over and I’m back to Klobuchar.  I would truly enjoy a Booker/Klobuchar ticket in any order and I think it is time for a generational shift.

     

  20. she got out because she was out of money and 4th in California.
    If she throws in with Biden  blah blah blah  gee Joe I thought your choice was Stacy Abrams

  22. Harris was one I enjoyed being in the race.  Don’t know whether her announcement and Biden’s were coordinated, but hey, why not?  Mrs. P will be pleased, me, not so much.
     
    I only have one thing to say about the House Intel Committee report (for the moment) – KA-BOOM!

  25. The truth is that I don’t particularly enjoy Biden in any way,  but I’ll take him with a younger running mate.  Anything to get rid of Bernie.  

  28. And Poobah, Biden’s numbers are remaining strong – Bernie’s are up and down, Lizzie is trending down and Pete is trending up – seems like with Lizzie’s former supporters.  Pete’s looking good, but I don’t think he’ll make it to the end.  

  29. At this point, I’ll even take a Yang/gabbard ticket, and long as tulsi spends 4 years locked in the VP’s residence w/o phone, ‘puter, or snailmail service.

  30. And as for Deck them Halls and alls, From Walt:

    Deck us all with Boston Charlie,
    Walla Walla, Wash., an’ Kalamazoo!
    Nora’s freezin’ on the trolley,
    Swaller dollar cauliflower alley-garoo!

    Don’t we know archaic barrel
    Lullaby Lilla Boy, Louisville Lou?
    Trolley Molly don’t love Harold,
    Boola boola Pensacoola hullabaloo.

    Bark us all bow-wows of folly,
    Polly wolly cracker ‘n’ too-da-loo!
    Donkey Bonny brays a carol,
    Antelope Cantaloupe, ‘lope with you!

    Hunky Dory’s pop is lolly,
    Gaggin’ on the wagon, Willy, folly go through!
    Chollie’s collie barks at Barrow,
    Harum scarum five alarm bung-a-loo!

    Dunk us all in bowls of barley,
    Hinky dinky dink an’ polly voo!
    Chilly Filly’s name is Chollie,
    Chollie Filly’s jolly chilly view halloo!

    Bark us all bow-wows of folly,
    Double-bubble, toyland trouble! Woof, woof, woof!
    Tizzy seas on melon collie!
    Dibble-dabble, scribble-scrabble! Goof, goof, goof!

    Festive, no?  Sorta?

  31. Sorry about Harris.  At least I can still dream of what a Harris-Amy K team would have been like.
    I never hear anything said about Biden that was not age related.  That is a problem.
    Biden needs Harris.  Not only for the age issue, but to draw the Indie women to the ticket.  The winner of the next election will be who draws women.  Seventy percent of the population are not greedy old perverts.  The other ten percent who are for SFB are out and out racists and low level intelligence idiots.  That leaves sixty percent available to vote for a Dem.

  32. You don’t think Bloomberg  might not mess it up?   GoOPerz who don’t like Trump might want him on the Dem ticket & if there’s a open primary in their state….

  33. Now the ‘moderates’ are Biden, Buttigieg, Bloomberg, Booker, Steyer, and Yang. The ‘immoderates’ are Warren and bernie. and the fascist weirdo is gabbard. Around St Paul & burps, the Biden, Warren, and bernie signs occur in roughly similar numbers. I’ve seen a few Buttigieg signs, and maybe one each of the others. I figure Bloomberg will steal a ton of Biden & Buttigieg voters in NH.
    On the other side of the universe, the ‘molderate’ is Weld, the nasty fascisty is walsh, and the ravening beast of the apocalypse is trump. I’m seeing a few large Weld signs and small walsh signs around St Paul & the burps. trump signs outnumber the others’ signs by a factor of 5 or 6.
    Did I leave anyone out ? 

  36. Bloomberg won’t fuck the primaries up. He’ll be an interesting sideshow but in the end so long as he stays out of the general as an indie his impact won’t move any needle. 

  37. Thank you, Ms Jamie. How embarrassing. Amy’s my senator !
    Puhleeease, don’t tell her ! ! ! 
    Yes, she’s another one of those ‘moderates’. 

  38. It’s politics, so tomorrow is a generation away. Booker and Amy could still be the big winners in IA, NH, NV, & SC.

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