'I'm not sure anybody would notice if Steve Mnuchin was missing': columnist

Columnist Dana Milbank was snubbed this week by President Donald Trump's White House for his critical coverage and commentary on the president. After 21 years covering the White House, Milbank had his press pass taken. But it hasn't stopped him from holding the leaders accountable.

"This administration has the ability to run out the clock regardless of what the Democrats do," Milbank told MSNBC host Richard Lui. "If we're considering the clock to be the 2020 elections. Whichever one the Democrats dig in on they can delay it long enough."

He encouraged Democrats to continue their pursuit of justice and accountability. However, he said Democrats should focus their attention on one thing to avoid making it look like they were throwing everything at the wall to see if it sticks.

"The case of Steve Mnuchin, plainly violating the law," Milbank said, referencing the Treasury Secretary's decision to defy the law allowing Congress to inspect the president's taxes. "The Founders did not envision a president who would -- where there's no give and take but flatly not going to cooperate so the logical answer to that if the Congress is going to behave in a similar fashion is lock up Steve Mnuchin, perhaps in some makeshift jail in the basement of the capitol. I'm not sure anybody would notice if he's missing anyway."

New York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg noted that both Democrats and Republicans seem to be fearful of the right-wing base, which is an isolated minority in the United States, yet they still maintain power.

"So, you see a lot of hand wringing among the Democrats of pushing things too far, even within the letter of the law, might be a backlash and you see very little kind of analogous concern among the Republicans if you push things beyond the letter of the law, will you have to pay a political price?" she asked hypothetically.

Goldberg noted it hasn't served Democrats well because they're going up against the bullying of an autocratic administration who will push as far as they can go.

"What I hope they do, besides start impeachment proceedings -- and I understand the problems with that politically but the message that this is a Constitutional crisis and this is a lawless administration, and yet, we are not going to impeach because it — I don’t think it resonates with people — I think it’s a very hard kind of needle to thread politically."

She noted it makes things seem less severe than they actually are.

Watch the full discussion below: