These hearings have demonstrated the willingness of Trump and his followers to use the threat of violence, and sometimes actual violence, to intimidate and impose their political will.Ī lot needs to be done in the wake of all we’ve seen: holding Trump personally accountable for his role in the Jan. Although the committee has obtained substantial evidence through subpoenas, count on this subpoena remaining a symbol more than a useful investigative tool. That said, there’s no indication Trump will comply with the subpoena, nor any indication that the committee has the time, much less the will, to litigate its enforcement. By providing Trump a public, official opportunity to testify, in no uncertain terms, the committee can shield its eventual report, and potential referrals, from criticism that the results were always a foregone conclusion. One way to demonstrate its good faith is to give the president due process. As calls mount for the committee to issue criminal referrals to the Justice Department after it completes its work, the members must be thinking seriously about how to demonstrate that it has been fair to Trump, especially given the committee’s composition. My colleague Jessica Levinson has noted already that the committee’s surprise subpoena to former Trump was necessary because so many of his close associates and allies avoided testifying through a combination of invoking the Fifth Amendment, ongoing litigation and Trump’s own assertion of executive privilege.īut there’s another likely reason as well.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |