Chairman Nadler makes a very strong argument for release of the Mueller report to Congress.

[kentuck]

It is true that the Special Counsel law requires the Special Counsel to turn over his report to the Attorney General.

It is also true that the Attorney General is part of the Executive Branch of Government.

It is a given that the Executive Branch cannot oversee itself. The Attorney General does not have the authority to make conclusions about an investigation by an independent Special Counsel that is investigating the Executive Branch, most specifically, the President. The most that an Attorney General can offer is recommendations to the Congress of his interpretation of the investigation.

It is the job of the Congress alone to administer oversight of the Executive Branch. Neither the President nor the Attorney General has the authority to withhold information of an independent investigation paid for by the people of the United States, as represented by the Congress.

Therefore, Congress has every right to see the Mueller report immediately - all of it. The Attorney General is part of the Executive Branch and is not authorized to withhold or redact information from the Congress.

It is time for the Congress to defend its power as granted by the Constitution.

[SHRED]

1. What can be done?

Seriously.

[kentuck]

2. Hopefully, they can fasttrack it thru to the Supreme Court.

And not have to wait for months or years for a decision.

[Mr. Evil]

16. Can William Barr be held in contempt of congress?

That would hopefully get his attention if applicable.

[politicaljunkie41910]

21. Shouldn't he recuse himself from any decisions in this matter. After all, he was the one who

wrote the unsolicited memo which said that the POTUS as the head of he Executive Branch could not possibly obstruct justice. He then told Trump what was in Mueller's report before anyone else knew; and appears to have misrepresented what the memo actually said. And finally, he wrote a 4 page Summary, (which should not be construed as a Summary) that cherry-picked the conclusion they both desired from the offset.

[kag]

24. This is how we know that Barr is no better (possibly even WORSE) than Whitaker.

Barr should have recused himself from the whole investigation because of that memo he wrote that got him the AG job in the first place. Of course, he was never going to do that. This is how we know how crooked he is.

[Jarqui]

3. The Attorney General is in a blatant conflict of interest.

This report is about his boss.

It also contains information needed to secure the country against future behavior that congress needs to know.

[NewJeffCT]

10. not just that Trump is his boss

but, that Barr also auditioned for the job by sending a 20 page "Witch Hunt" memo to Trump

[kentuck]

11. Definitely could be seen as a conflict of interest.

Barr is holding a very weak hand and I think he knows it.

[Jarqui]

13. that basically argued that when it comes to obstruction of justice,

the president is above the law.

Not even Richard Nixon bought that

[Pepsidog]

23. The ethical standard that lawyers are held to is the "aapearance of impropriety" and there is

more than the appearance with Barr. So ethically speaking Barr’s recusal is a no brainer, an easy call. We have heard this so many times the past two years but here it is again. Imagine if Eric Holder was AG and redacted or withheld a special counsel report from a Republican Congress. Dems in Congress must do everything within their powers to obtain the full report. And Why hasn’t anyone asked Neal Kytal who wrote the rules why he gave the AG so much power to hide a Special Counsel report. Why isn’t there a requirement to send it to at least the Judiciary Committee or The Gang of Eight. Maybe when the rules were written in 1999 the thought of a complicit AG was unthinkable. But then again John Mitchell should have been instructive.

[Mr. Evil]

14. Sorry but, we are his boss.

[Jarqui]

15. I don't think that is how he sees it

It wasn't for GHW Bush and the Iran Contra criminals
It is not how he sees it now.
Trump appointed him - not the people.
He's there to protect Trump - not do the people's bidding - 87% of the people want to see the report. He would argue protecting Trump is protecting the people's choice. But most would suggest that is not a convincing argument.

[Mr. Evil]

17. Yeah, I get the actual reality of the situation but,

maybe just this once if enough of us get loud and demand that our representatives remind William Barr of this fact then we might possibly have some satisfaction. Mostly optimistic thinking on my part and thanks for the dose of reality.

[Jarqui]

18. I protested Nixon. I'd handily show up to protest withholding the Mueller report.

I think a real public outcry would put pressure on them (I doubt it would be enough).

More likely, it has to happen in the courts.

Long shot: A relative of Daniel Ellsberg worked for Bob Mueller.

[Mr. Evil]

19. I didn't know that about the Mueller team.

That being the case then I hope that the relative has the same component of the Ellsberg family's DNA that promotes 'doing the right thing.'

[Jarqui]

20. My bad: I was kidding about Ellsberg family member actually working for Mueller

to make the point that maybe someone would leak it but it would be unlikely to happen under Mueller and need something extraordinary to happen - like what Ellsberg did

[kag]

25. Precisely my thought when I read that comment.

I understand that HE doesn't think he works for us, but goddammit, my taxes pay his salary. And since we know that Trump doesn't bother to pay taxes, he has no claim on supervision of Barr .

[FBaggins]

4. A few problems with that

The Special Counsel is not independent of the executive branch... he's part of it. It's useful to note that the current rules were crafted by a Democratic executive branch due to excesses attempted by a Republican Legislative branch.

Congress does have oversight responsibilities... but they also have the power to do their own investigations and should have been doing so over the last two years.

The Attorney General is part of the Executive Branch and is not authorized to withhold or redact information from the Congress.

That's flat untrue. The executive branch is a co-equal branch of government. It would be equally true to say that the legislative branch is not authorized to demand things of the AG... who does not report to them.

The third branch of government will need to get involved. Congress cannot force it on their own. They can threaten impeachment, but they can't force the executive to heel without the courts agreeing (or the executive doing so willingly).

The same is true of actions by the executive against the legislative branch. The DOJ could send subpoenas over to Congress to investigate a suspected crime... but the legislative branch could elect to tell them to pound sand until the courts rule otherwise.

[kentuck]

5. The Congress is not required to take a vacation from its oversight duties...

It doesn't matter if Mueller was hired by Rosenstein. They, also, are subject to the oversight of the Congress.

You are correct that they could tell Congress to pound sand but they would be wrong under the word of the Constitution.

My guess is that the Courts would rule likewise.

[kentuck]

6. Also, I doubt that Trump and Barr wish to test this in the Courts?

The right of Congress to oversee the Executive Branch, in a case such as this one, is very strong and would be difficult for the Court to rule against, in my opinion.

[Igel]

8. It will go there.

Because much of the information used by the special counsel is from grand jury testimony, the use of which isn't governed by executive-branch rules.

The executive branch is following judicial branch rules, not just executive.

Of course, the legislature is also responsible for oversight over the judicial branch, I'm willing to wager the argument goes. And not just the legislature. The House.

Nadler must have loved all the investigations during the Obama administration, all that wonderful oversight that the executive needs. (And there the argument finally simply stops.

Oversight's an implied power. It was first discovered to imply anything close to something working towards the current state of watchfulness in 1946. Because in 1946 the (R) gained control over both houses. Before that it was primarily to make sure money was being spent wisely, checking to make sure that a law was necessary, and often not really exercised over the kinds of things that it's adduced for. It's to make sure that administration and expense is done in a sound manner, not to watch like a hawk over the president with members muttering saying, "He must have done *something* we can impeach him for! All we have to do is find it." Notice that at the core of Nadler's argument are (R) attitudes towards FDR. Oversight gains newfound muscle every time there's a president that a party, usually one newly in power, really despises, distrusts or wants to either hobble or prevent from having much power. It's always presented as principle, but the entire process resembles a staircase. You go up, but to lower yourself would be humiliating.

[kentuck]

9. The sooner, the better, in my opinion.

I believe most of America sees Trump and the Republicans as corrupt, immoral, and criminal. I think the next election will validate that.

[Evolve Dammit]

7. I fear this is heading to the Supremes; with fresh Trump blood in robes.

[NurseJackie]

12. Great post!

[kentuck]

22. kick one time...

[Kurt V.]

26. K&R

[Varaddem]

27. How can

Mueller and Barr be Friends after Iran Contra?Shouldn’t Barr’s history in those pardons of treasonous behavior be brought up in public every day by the Democrats.

[dlk]

28. The Executive Branch is Attempting a Power Grab - We Can't Let Them Get Away With It

Trump's narcissistic goal is complete and total authority over government, and the law. This goes along with his irrational idea of a self-pardon, as if anyone could ever be their own judge in a legal matter. We have seen Trump go all out in his use of the entire DOJ as his own, personal legal representative. We have further seen the attorney general in Trump's pocket. This cannot be permitted to stand, under any circumstance, and must be countered, and squelched at every turn.

[Haggis for Breakfast]

29. LEAK. THE. GODDAMNED. THING.

[kentuck]

30. They should know that...

...the longer they put off not giving the report to Congress, in its entirety, the worse it is going to be.

Just as history has taught us, if you have any bad news, put it out front, don't try to cover it up.

Hopefully, this gang will see that the sooner they give the people the Mueller Report, the better it will be for everyone.