Congressional Democrats continue to engage in a “fishing expedition” against the president in hopes of catching something that will stick. While Congress has the power to investigate, interview witnesses, and issue subpoenas when necessary, the House Judiciary Committee’s most recent “investigation” is nothing more than another blatant and partisan witch hunt that reeks of desperation and Democratic trepidation that the Russia collusion narrative has fallen apart.
As noted in Lawfare: “Congressional investigations can bring information into the public and can lead to legislation or other action, but do not result in criminal punishment. Only the executive branch can bring criminal charges against individuals, though a congressional investigation can contribute to a Department of Justice decision to bring charges.”
According to The Hill, the House Judiciary Committee recently launched a new investigation of alleged obstruction of justice, public corruption, and abuses of power. The investigation included “more than 80 requests for documents from current and former White House officials and associates of the president.”
The Hill reports: “Nadler is demanding documents from Trump son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, former White House chief of staff Reince Priebus, former White House communications director Hope Hicks, former White House counsel Don McGahn and former national security adviser Michael Flynn, as well as members of the president’s family and real estate company.”
The scope, breadth, and nature of these requests scream of desperation. The committee has not limited the scope of its requests to one or two major areas of concern. Rather, it has engaged in an incredibly broad blitz campaign that will likely face legal challenges and aligns with the Democrats’ publicly stated quest to impeach the president and remove him from office.
Not only is the ridiculously broad scope of the investigation reminiscent of a desperate call for a lifeline, the timing of the requests is also noteworthy given that the Robert Mueller investigation is likely nearing its end and could very well find no evidence implicating the president. This possibility would be devastating to Democrats, who are feeling growing pressure on the issue of impeachment.
Given the possibility of a disappointing Mueller report and the mounting pressure to impeach, congressional Democrats had to find another investigative avenue that allowed for a broader investigation than Mueller’s probe. This is also one reason Democrats wanted Michael Cohen to testify publicly, as they felt it could sway public opinion in favor of impeachment.
Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) said, “We have to — we have to do the investigations and get all this. We do not now have the evidence all sorted out and everything to do — to do an impeachment. Before you impeach somebody, you have to persuade the American public that it ought to happen. You have to persuade enough of the — of the opposition party voters, Trump voters, that you’re not just trying to … that you’re not just trying to steal the last — to reverse the results of the last election.”
Simply stated, Cohen was merely a tool whom the Democrats thought would help push this agenda. Given his credibility concerns, he was far from convincing.
While congressional Democrats continue to try to dig up something that incriminates the president, his family, members of his staff, and a few Republicans have blasted these ongoing “investigations.” Jim Jordan, a Republican representative from Ohio, tweeted that Nadler should “at least pretend to be serious about fact finding,” adding “What a Kangaroo court.”
Donald Trump, Jr. said the investigation is “as political as it gets.” He further stated that, “the “dream” of federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York is to “try to find something to get Trump. It’s that old Stalinist tactic, you know?”
In an article in The Hill, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders criticized the investigation, stating that “Chairman Nadler and his fellow Democrats have embarked on this fishing expedition because they are terrified that their two-year false narrative of ‘Russia collusion’ is crumbling. Their intimidation and abuse of American citizens is shameful.” Fox News host Sean Hannity referred to the sweeping investigation of the president as a gruesome modern-day “McCarthyism.”
Hopefully, as the days and months continue to pass, more Americans begin to see this for what is truly is: a partisan and coordinated effort to remove a president from office at all costs. America deserves better.
