The battle over the Mueller report and whether or not impeachment proceedings should begin continues. It is a question over whether or not we want our constitutional system to be used to investigate and punish corruption in our government. There are political moves to be made all over the place, but that does not change the simple fact that what we know and understand of the Mueller report does not jibe with the current Attorney General William Barr, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, President Trump, and his administration’s loud statements of innocence. While there is a lot of smoke to investigate, there are also tons of fires that need to be brought out into the open and stuck in jail. Democratic Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas has been a strident critique of the Trump administration’s criminal behaviors and neglect of his duties as head of the Executive Branch.
On Chris Cuomo’s CNN show Tuesday night, he wanted to make sure that everyone understood that not only should the Democratic Party officials interested in finding out the truth about the Mueller report find Republican officials like AG Barr in contempt, but that those charges must carry teeth:
Rep. Doggett: We're informed by the president's new policy of obstruction today, obstruction yesterday, obstruction forever. He doesn't want anyone to talk. He doesn't want any documents produced. He creates a void with secrecy that he fills with more and more lies; and so what I want is for us to recognize that we’re under new conditions. It is not a time for timidity. We need to be forceful. We need to use every tool. He seems to be almost be begging for impeachment. I don't think it's time to go there, at this point, but I do think it's important to use all of our powers—one of which is the inherent power of contempt.
Asked to clarify what he means by that, Rep. Doggett explained.
Rep. Doggett: What it means … is the Congress can issue or support the subpoena through arrest or fines. And we need to be prepared to do both.
At this point Cuomo decides to play coy about what exactly Rep. Doggett just said, exclaiming that surely Rep. Doggett didn’t mean putting William Barr in cuffs for his contempt of the Legislative Branch of our government. It turns out, that’s exactly how law works—something that lawyer Chris Cuomo should (and does) understand.
Rep. Doggett: All I want is for the attorney general to realize he has a responsibility to the public and not just as a personal attorney of Mr. Trump, and to comply with the law. ... It's our responsibility … to hold them accountable. I don't want to throw him in jail but I'm ready to do so.
Kaaaaa-bang. Cuomo, having actually gotten the soundbite he seemed to be facetiously playing for, can’t help but steamroll through this in order to provide some polling numbers that CNN is twisting into a knot. The gist is that most people either like or want more pushing on the part of Democratic representatives on this matter—presented in the most convoluted way possible.
Congressional Dems Investigating Trump:
Too Much 44%
Right Amount 28%
Too Little 25%
Cuomo begins to ask Doggett about these numbers and basically admits that they are laid out “deceptively,” and sort of stops asking his nothing burger question by the end. This allows Doggett to get back onto the topic at hand.
Rep. Doggett: This is part of President Trump's overall strategy. Building a huge stone wall by denying anything, any reaching out we do to get the truth is viewed as an overreach and it's promoted by him as an overreach.
Cuomo: Well, that's what Pelosi said. She believes the president is goading you guys, taunting you to impeach him. Do you believe that?
And this is why Rep. Lloyd Doggett gets 1,000 gold stars today.
Rep. Doggett: I think he is. We see it mentioned by all of his supporters and enablers. ... That doesn't mean we shouldn't consider doing that if there's no other alternatives. But I think this inherent power of contempt that would involve our contracting with the jail, perhaps adding some security personnel to do an arrest, not because we want to arrest or to jail someone but because we realize we have to show we're serious about this. We're not just going to go on through the courts and let them run out the clock.
This made me giddy. It’s time to be matter-of-fact with all of this. Sen. Mitch McConnell sold his soul to be turned from a turtle into a senator long ago. He will be a dark and grotesque footnote to history one day. There is no discussing law and order with elected officials on a side of the aisle drowning in swamp water. Doggett finishes by explaining that what is happening here isn’t normal. This isn’t about whether or not you believe in pro choice or anti choice, this isn’t about gun control, this isn’t even about progressive taxes or deregulation. It’s about corruption.
Doggett: I'm very concerned not just about this president but about precedent. The precedent for another power-hungry president that would reach out and grab for more. President Trump, when he makes these outrageous maneuvers and offers his bigoted statements … he's encouraged to grab for a little more, and I'm concerned about the erosion of our democracy by his conduct.
Amen.