House Judiciary Committee to hold hearings on Mueller report

[DonViejo]

Source: Axios



Zachary Basu 20 mins ago

The House Judiciary Committee announced Monday that it would hold a series of hearings on the Mueller report beginning on June 10, with a session focused on "President Trump’s most overt acts of obstruction," according to Chairman Jerry Nadler.

Why it matters: Amid growing calls to launch impeachment proceedings against Trump, House Democratic leaders are instead opting to continue holding hearings under the umbrella of standard congressional oversight. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) said on Sunday that he believes impeachment proceedings will begin at some point, but that Democrats must first "do what's necessary to educate the public" on Trump's alleged corruption.

Details: The first hearing will be titled, "Lessons from the Mueller Report: Presidential Obstruction and Other Crimes," and will feature former White House counsel John Dean, whose cooperation in the Watergate scandal famously made him a star witness against President Richard Nixon. The hearing will also feature former U.S. attorneys and other legal experts.

The big picture: Attorney General Bill Barr and former White House counsel Don McGahn have each defied subpoenas from the House Judiciary Committee, with McGahn doing so at the direction of the White House. The committee has authorized a contempt resolution against Barr and is considering the same for McGahn.

Read more: https://www.axios.com/house-judiciary-committee-mueller-report-john-dean-3eed2f15-f023-4272-8a3d-e023242b7b54.html

[Fiendish Thingy]

1. A good step in the right direction nt

[Raven123]

2. On the face of it this is questionable strategy

1) Experts are people with opinions who can easily be contradicted by other experts with different opinions.

2) Not sure how many people care to hear about comparisons between Trump and Nixon and that is so much of what John Dean connotes.

3) Educate the public with a hearing assumes people will watch. Most will see snippets on their favorite “news” channel. You can bet the GOP members, if they choose to participate, will seek opportunities to create a few snippets of their own.

I hope there is something I am missing, but so far IMO Nadler hasn’t met my expectations running this committee. This effort has a potential for too much talk and too little information.

[PatrickforO]

3. I would think they would want to open official impeachment hearings, as

that would allow them access to a greater scope of grand jury testimony during the investigation.

But, I guess I'm only an armchair impeacher.

[JudyM]

5. "Armchair impeacher"

[CaptainTruth]

4. And just like that, impeachment hearings have begun.

They're not saying the magic "I" word, but that's what these are, the first hearings of the impeachment process.

Hearings designed to expose Trump's crimes, educate the public, & build public support for impeachment.

[LiberalLovinLug]

7. lol

What if the Democrats hold "hearings" and no one comes? Are they still hearings? Let alone impeachment hearings?

And if that happens, more strongly worded letters? Good luck ordering the AG to arrest himself. And even if that became possible, to drag them out in cuffs, wouldn't that visual be just as incendiary to his deplorable zombies as officially starting an actual impeachment process?

This only makes people suspicious and they look, unfairly perhaps, for more nefarious reasons why top Democrats are afraid to open this up.

Get on with it!

[Progressive Jones]

9. Even if nobody watches, there will be a record. I'm antsy for some contempt arrests. nt

[LiberalLovinLug]

10. And there is no way it will not draw large audiences.

Trump and his quest to be the biggest and most spectacular President ev'a would come back to haunt him, as people on both sides would be glued to the screens.

[mcar]

6. Great news!

[pecosbob]

8. Due diligence