Trump Ethos: Be smug; arrogant; nasty; evasive; stone wall
THE
BIG IDEA (Washington Post): Corey Lewandowski played a
starring role in one of the 10 episodes of possible obstruction of justice that
former special counsel Mueller detailed in his report.
He was Trump’s onetime campaign
manager and never worked in the administration, but that’s not stopping the
White House from making an extraordinarily far-reaching legal claim that he’s “protected by executive privilege.”
When
Lewandowski testified before the House Judiciary Committee, the White House
said that protection means he doesn't need to fully answer questions about
conversations he has had with the president.
I watched it unfold
this way: Within the
first five minutes it became crystal clear what Trump's former campaign manager
was up to: Trolling to please his old
boss.
Clear details and analysis here
from CNN.
White House
counsel Pat Cipollone sent a letter
to Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), the
committee’s chairman, saying that Lewandowski “… has been directed not to discuss the substance of any conversations he
had with the President or senior Presidential advisers about official
government matters, unless the information is expressly contained in the Report.”
Cipollone added the even more dubious claim that
conversations Lewandowski had with Trump during the transition, before he even
became president, might be protected by presidential privilege.
Cipollone asserts: “Discussions
during this period may relate to decisions the President-elect would be making
once he assumed office. Accordingly, Mr. Lewandowski's responses to specific
questions relating to this period may implicate deliberative process privilege
and other Executive Branch confidentiality interests.”
Cipollone
said he will send a White House lawyer to accompany Lewandowski, a private
citizen, and “… advise, as necessary,
with regard to specific questions that implicate privileged matters.”
With letters like those, the Trump White House seems to be all but daring
Democrats to move forward with impeachment proceedings.
Because of
decades-old DOJ guidelines that say a sitting president cannot be indicted,
Mueller has said he never saw charging Trump with a crime as an option. But he
made a point of
writing that “… while this report does
not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate
him.”
The House is
trying to use the Mueller report as a roadmap for further inquiry, but the
White House has repeatedly stonewalled and flouted their subpoenas.
From a tweet by
University of Texas law professor, Steve Vladeck: “There's no such thing as executive privilege in conversations the
President has with ... someone who isn't, and never has been, employed in the
Executive Branch. But 2019, I guess??”
My 2 cents: Continue this fine article at the Washington
Post.
Lewandowski played his
scripted role like routine that Trump basically ordered: He was arrogant, smug, evasive, and played
dumb asking members to repeat their question (all the while eating up the set
time for asking and answering questions). He well prepared and it showed.
As for as the GOP side: Mean and aggressive
against the DEMS and they stuck to their script: Repeating Lewandoski’s history
and turmoil up to this point fluffing him along the way in so many words as “a
trusted, loyal, and staunch Trump sycophant – 100%.”
They were pitiful but in true
GOP “hide an obvious crime” mode.
Anyone watching could see that, that is except die hard GOP/Trump loyalists.
Thanks
for stopping by.
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