A law professor who used to work as a House of Representatives counsel warned that President Donald Trump's congressional "stonewalling" is unlike anything he's seen in his multi-decade career.
Charles Tiefer, a former longtime House lawyer, told the New York Times that "the comprehensiveness and intensity of this presidential stonewalling” went past anything he'd seen in his 40-year-career.
Tiefer's comments came after the president on Wednesday declared that his administration is "fighting all the subpoenas" from Congress regarding its various investigations into him and his administration. That day, the Justice Department refused to comply with a Congressional request regarding the controversial addition of a citizenship question on the US Census.
“These aren’t, like, impartial people," Trump told reporters outside the White House. "The Democrats are trying to win 2020.”
The Wednesday defiance came after the White House earlier in the week indicated that it would tell former administration counsel Don McGahn and other ex-officials not to comply with subpoenas.
"The president is attempting to repeal a congressional power of oversight that goes back to the administration of George Washington,” Tiefer told the newspaper. “Congress can call witnesses about problems with the executive branch anytime. Otherwise there is no check on whether the executive branch is doing the public’s work or just exercising raw power.”
Read the entire report via the Times.
