5/3/2019

ATTORNEY GENERAL/CONGRESS/RUSSIA INVESTIGATION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Attorney General William Barr’s performance before the Senate Judiciary Committee, and his refusal to appear before the House Judiciary Committee, underscored why Democrats are determined to get the full Mueller report and underlying evidence. Members of Congress are outraged about Barr’s deceptive answers to their questions. Some even want to prosecute him for it. But the fight that matters most is over his agency’s disclosure of the full report and all its underlying investigative material, not whether he lied to Congress. And that fight, with grave implications for our constitutional system of checks and balances, seems destined for a courtroom in the not-too-distant future. Recent events indicate that House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), who gave Barr until 9 a.m. Monday to comply with the subpoena for the investigative materials, is positioning himself to win that battle while Barr’s actions create delay and roadblocks for Democrats but ultimately undercut the administration’s legal position.”

Renato Mariotti, “A Constitutional Showdown Between the White House and Congress Just Got Closer,” Politico, May 3, 2019