{"id":60595,"date":"2018-06-21T19:41:42","date_gmt":"2018-06-21T23:41:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/?p=60595"},"modified":"2018-06-21T19:41:48","modified_gmt":"2018-06-21T23:41:48","slug":"the-daily-gouge-archive-wednesday-june-20th-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/?p=60595","title":{"rendered":"The Daily Gouge Archive, Wednesday, June 20th, 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s Wednesday, June 20th, 2018…and here’s The Gouge!<\/strong><\/p>\n

First up, as Bill McGurn notes at the\u00a0WSJ<\/em>, if the Republican leadership in the House had a hair on their collective backside, they’d…<\/strong><\/p>\n

Impeach Rod Rosenstein<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/h1>\n

How Congress can remind the unelected government it answers to the elected part<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

“The long-awaited showdown between the Justice Department and Congress is finally here.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

It started late Friday afternoon. While the rest of the country was parsing the just-released report on the FBI from the Justice Department\u2019s inspector general, senior congressional leaders and selected committee chairmen quietly met with FBI Director Christopher Wray and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein at a secure location in the basement of the Capitol.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

At issue was Justice and FBI\u2019s continuing defiance of congressional subpoenas.<\/span> At the top of this list is the demand from the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence for documents about why and whether the FBI had an informant insinuating himself with Trump campaign officials before the Russia investigation officially started.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

On Sunday on Fox News, Devin Nunes, the House Intel chairman, made clear his \u201cpatience has run out.\u201d The good news is that he and the other House chairmen at the Friday meeting\u2014Judiciary\u2019s Bob Goodlatte and Oversight and Government Reform\u2019s Trey Gowdy \u2014were fully backed up in their demands by Speaker Paul Ryan. Mr. Ryan sent Messrs. Rosenstein and Wray an unambiguous message<\/em><\/span>: Comply with Congress\u2019s orders this week<\/span><\/em>.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

In a radio interview Monday morning with Milwaukee\u2019s WISN, Mr. Ryan said \u201cthe new leadership at Justice and the FBI\u201d has to decide whether it will be \u201cpart of the cleanup crew<\/em><\/span> or the coverup team<\/em><\/span>.\u201d<\/span> If Justice and the FBI don\u2019t comply within the timeline he laid out<\/em><\/span>, he said, \u201cwe are going to have to take action<\/em><\/span>.\u201d<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Of all<\/em><\/span> the actions Congress could<\/em><\/span> take, a contempt finding<\/em><\/span> or an impeachment<\/em><\/span> is the most substantial<\/em><\/span>. Unfortunately, recent Republican history with regard to the former doesn\u2019t incline to optimism.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Disagree? Then you<\/span> explain it!<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Lois Lerner, the former official at the heart of the IRS targeting of conservative groups, and Eric Holder, Barack Obama\u2019s attorney general, were each held in contempt by Congress. But in both<\/em><\/span> cases, Congress blinked<\/em><\/span> when it came to imposing effective consequences<\/em><\/span>.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

In June 2012, Mr. Holder was held in contempt for withholding documents Congress wanted from the botched Fast and Furious operation that put firearms in the hands of Mexican drug cartels. It was the first time<\/em><\/span> Congress had taken such a move against a sitting cabinet member<\/em><\/span>.<\/span> The first<\/em><\/span> contempt resolution referred the attorney general for criminal charges, while a second<\/em><\/span> launched a civil suit seeking a court to order Justice to turn over the documents.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The Obama Justice Department declined to act on the criminal referral<\/em><\/span>\u2014as everyone knew<\/em><\/span> it would.<\/strong><\/span> Though a judge would ultimately reject the administration\u2019s claims of executive privilege, the ruling didn\u2019t come until 2016. By that time Mr. Obama was wrapping up his second term, Mr. Holder had retired, and Fast and Furious had long since faded from the headlines.<\/p>\n

But Congress has a third<\/em><\/span> option for contempt: It can jail<\/span> someone until he <\/em>(or she<\/span>!<\/em>)<\/span> produces the testimony or documents sought<\/em>.<\/span> The advantage here<\/span> is that Congress can do this all on its own<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/span>…”<\/p>\n

These two videos of Ted Cruz and John Kennedy questioning David Horowitz are well worth your watching; but if time is a commodity on which you’re short, fast forward to the 6:16 mark in the Kennedy clip to hear the Louisianan ask what inquiring minds want to know:<\/strong><\/p>\n