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A NOTE FROM FRED
The House Judiciary Committee is shifting gears as it moves forward with its impeachment inquiry.
The Committee announced it will hold hearings this fall on the hush money payments President Trump made just prior to the 2016 presidential election to keep quiet his alleged affairs with Karen McDougal and Stormy Daniels years earlier.
This is the case which resulted in Michael Cohen’s plea bargain, in which President Trump was treated (although not by name) as an unindicted co-conspirator in the violation of campaign finance laws.
In originally announcing the Judiciary Committee investigation of President Trump in March 2019, the Committee listed three areas to be pursued by the Committee: obstruction of justice, abuses of power, and corruption.
In addition to the hush money case, the corruption area encompasses a number of other matters that the Committee could pursue.
These include Trump’s repeated violations of the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution, which prohibits Trump from accepting financial benefits from both foreign and domestic interests without approval of Congress; other matters involving Trump's misuse of his office for personal financial gain; and Trump's potential corrupt misuse of the pardon power to influence the actions of others.
In pursuing these matters, the Committee has the ability to bypass Trump’s unprecedented, across-the-board stonewalling of congressional oversight of his Administration (itself a potential impeachable offense) as a number of the witnesses to be called on the corruption matters have never worked for the Trump Administration and therefore fall outside any assertion of executive privilege.
There are still some 100 House Democrats who have not indicated they support impeachment and public opinion polls still show a majority of Americans opposed to impeaching President Trump.
It remains to be seen whether the Judiciary Committee’s new focus on developing a public case on the corruption issue will move the needle on impeachment, with the Committee intending to make a decision on whether to go forward with articles of impeachment before the end of 2019.
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D21 NEWS
Pro-Trump Super PAC Paid Thousands To Firm Owned By Trump’s Campaign Manager
D21 President Fred Wertheimer: If Brad Parscale, Trump’s campaign manager, “wanted to sever himself completely from the super PAC, then I don't know why he would create a company involving his wife. […] That’s why dark money is so dangerous. No one knows what’s going on,” via CNN.
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HEADLINE OF THE WEEK
The Election Watchdog That Can’t Bark
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MUST READS
TRUMP & FRIENDS
Trump’s Wacky, Angry, and Extreme August
“The Trumpian extremes on display in the third August of his Presidency revived a debate about whether he is descending into even less Presidential behavior, shedding the remaining constraints imposed upon him by his office and the efforts of his ever-changing staff,” via The New Yorker.
Trump’s Schedule Shows A President With Plenty Of Downtime This Summer, via Los Angeles Times.
Trump Invites Pence To Stay At His Golf Resort In Ireland —Then Hands Taxpayers the Bill
“The president suggested that Vice President Mike Pence and his retinue spend tens of thousands of dollars at his golf resort in Ireland,” via The Atlantic.
Pence’s Stay At Trump’s Doonbeg Resort Reeks Of Corruption, via The Washington Post editorial board.
Ken Cuccinelli Emerges As Public Face, And Irritant, Of Homeland Security, via The New York Times.
G-7 At Trump’s Doral Resort? The Original Sin Of This Presidency Is Failure To Divest.
“Trump’s corruption now includes more than 2,300 conflicts of interest that benefit his finances, break his promises, and violate the Constitution,” opinion from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), via USA Today.
Trump Administration Raids Military Construction Projects For Border Wall, via Politico.
Top Interior Official Who Pushed To Expand Drilling In Alaska To Join Oil Company There, via The Washington Post.
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DEEP DIVE OF THE WEEK
Mar-A-Lago, $20K Worth Of Flowers And Lots Of Consulting: When Joint Fundraising Money Goes Beyond Campaigns
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THE INVESTIGATIONS
Congressional Dems Plan To Launch Inquiry Into Trump’s Alleged Role In Scheme To Silence Affair Accusations, via The Washington Post.
Here Are All The Ways Democrats Are Trying To Get Trump’s Tax Returns, via HuffPost.
Schedule For McGahn Legal Fight Adds To Pressure On Impeachment Backers, via Politico.
Judiciary Panel Issues Subpoena On Trump's Alleged Offer To Pardon DHS Officials, via Politico.
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DEEP DIVE “LISTEN” OF THE WEEK
2020 Election: Secure Your Vote
A Special Series from National Public Radio
What you need to know about voting machine vulnerabilities, “deepfake” videos, foreign cyberattacks … and more.
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425 DAYS …
Trump’s “Happy Place”: More Campaign Rallies, More Promises, More Attacks On Dems, via Politico.
Biden Taps Influence Industry Despite Pledge On Lobbyists
“It’s difficult to quantify how much Biden has raised from the multibillion-dollar influence industry, but the roughly $200,000 he accepted from employees of major lobbying firms is far more than any of his rivals has received,” via Associated Press.
North Carolina Court Strikes Down Gerrymander, Citing Smoking Gun Evidence In The Hofeller Files, via Slate.
Life Off the Democratic Debate Stage: Sparse Crowds, Daily Indignities, via The New York Times.
The 10 Counties That Will Decide The 2020 Election, via The Hill.
Will Trumpism Take Deeper Root in New Hampshire?
Corey Lewandowski, Trump’s former campaign manager, “sounded every bit like his pugilistic political patron as he unleashed a blur of attacks and insinuations in a manner reminiscent of an out-of-control garden hose,” via The New York Times.
Senate Democrats, Republicans Prepare For 2020 Battleground In Trump Era, via ABC News.
Trump’s Hostility To Election Security Preparedness, via Brookings.
The Future Of Election Meddling: Russia’s Next Moves, Why Instagram And Whatsapp Are Of Particular Concern, And Why Election Interference Could Be More Domestic In 2020, via Rolling Stone.
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