Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY) demanded documents from 81 people affiliated with President Donald Trump Monday, and an MSNBC political panel predicts the White House isn't ready for the onslaught they're about to face.
Host Nicolle Wallace noted Trump might be staffing up on lawyers in the White House counsel's office, but that people tend to "underestimate the danger of these committees."
She went on to warn, "the scrutiny of Trump’s businesses, White House and family is about to be the primary focus" of Nadler's committee. If he's already "frenzied and wild-eyed" about special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, this new House probe "may very well be his undoing.”
The "kompromat," or compromising material Russia had on Trump, was the "conduct" by Trump, Wallace explained.
It "was the conduct of money laundering, was the knowledge of negotiations around Trump Tower Moscow going on longer among [Vladimir] Putin and his cohorts than it did among any American officials other than people who may have been listening," Wallace continued. "This idea that the money laundering, as Steve Bannon is quoted saying in Fire and Fury, is one of the original sins."
Associated Press reporter Jonathan Lemire agreed, saying that most Americans see Christopher Steele's dossier with salacious examples of things that could be used as kompromat. The reality is that the money scandals are far more damaging to the president because it's not just embarrassing but illegal too.
"There's more than that," Lemire continued. "There's a pattern of behavior over decades investigators are looking at; we know Robert Mueller is, and today with what the House committee has done is say, 'Game on.' Michael Cohen last week, in some ways, was the opening act but provided almost a roadmap. He hit upon so many different subjects, and so many different aspects of the Trump Organization and president's family is, of course, intimately involved in that, those are the avenues where the Democrats are now going to follow."
He predicted they would put pressure on the White House in many unexpected ways. While Trump may appear like he's downplaying the hearings and Committees, his Twitter account has shown a different side.
"That's different than what we are seeing behind the scenes, to his aides and we are seeing it spill out on Twitter that he's frustrated and aggravated and worried about where this could go," said Lemire. "Presidential harassment has been his new catchphrase. As much as the White House staffed up and hired new lawyers, they know they might not be ready for the sheer onslaught, the sheer volume of what's coming from the Hill, from these various committees including the one led by Chairman Nadler. And there's a sense that each day will yield something new. And each day that could get a step closer to the Oval Office."
Watch the clips below:
"The scrutiny of Trump’s businesses, White House, & family is about to be the primary focus of the House Judiciary… https://t.co/Gi62UWUIhL— Deadline White House (@Deadline White House) 1551733785.0
