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House Judiciary Committee Hearing - Matt Whitaker (1 Viewer)

S

Sinn Fein

Footballguy
Date:  Friday, February 8, 2019 - 9:30am

Location:  2141 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515

Oversight of the U.S. Department of Justice

:popcorn:

The "will he" or "won't he" show up argument appears to have been settled Thursday night - though I don't think the issue is fully resolved.

I suspect we will learn absolutely nothing here - and it will devolve into chaos.  Whitaker will not divulge anything that the Dems want to ask - and he will attempt to "Preserve the president's right to exert executive privilege" - we will see if the frustrated Dems will pull out the subpoena - its a tricky question.

 
Just a guess - but I am assuming that Whitaker will stonewall the Dems on all Trump-related questions, and the GOP-led questions will focus on border security - crimes by illegal immigrants, and how much safer the country would be with a border wall.

 
Probably the only thing that comes out of this meeting, many months from now, is that the legal question of whether the President's right to exert executive privilege can be "maintained" without actually invoking it.

 
Dinsy Ejotuz said:
Probably the only thing that comes out of this meeting, many months from now, is that the legal question of whether the President's right to exert executive privilege can be "maintained" without actually invoking it.
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I don't think that question can easily be answered - from a technical standpoint.

I think Whitaker will attempt that today - but because he is not under subpoena, the House cannot compel answers.  If the House issues the subpoena - I don't think Whitaker will stand by his "preserving the privilege" stance (in part because by the time this gets resolved - it will be Barr on the hot seat, and in part because its not a valid legal argument.)  The president will have to invoke executive privilege - and then the parties can litigate whether conversations with Cabinet officials are de facto privileged.

In some ways - this plays into Trump's hands - as it runs down the clock.  These are also the same arguments that are going to be litigated over the Mueller report - specifically as it relates to some of the obstruction allegations - Trump has already indicated he will invoke Executive Privilege for any testimony/statements given to the Special Counsel by White House staff.

 
Unrelated to this hearing - but setting the tone:

Chairmen Cummings, Nadler, Pallone, and Schiff tell Matthew Whitaker that they have new records indicating that "he failed to return thousands of dollars that would have been distributed to the victims of [World Patent Marketing's] alleged scam."

https://bit.ly/2SAYHL9

 
Ultimately I'm glad he's showing up, even without a subpoena, this should be embarrassing in its own right, best to have him there rather than miss the opportunity.

 
I expect this is going to go like one of those football games where one team is a severe underdog and overmatched, yet they come out with an opening TD because they have scripted the first set of plays, but after that they're lost and it's all downhill.

 
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Sinn Fein said:
I suspect we will learn absolutely nothing here - and it will devolve into chaos.  Whitaker will not divulge anything that the Dems want to ask - and he will attempt to "Preserve the president's right to exert executive privilege" - we will see if the frustrated Dems will pull out the subpoena - its a tricky question.
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What happens after this? Resisting a congressional subpoena for a follow-up won't be easy for a private citizen. Or the administration will try to hide him in the DOJ somewhere, which might seem a bit odd for a former AG to be rattling around in an inferior position, which also assumedly would be a non-confirmed position.

 
Finally answers some - Whitaker says he has not talked to Trump or Senior WH officials about special counsel investigation.

 
I think I'm beginning to agree with Collins - this is a waste of time.......because Whitaker isn't going to cooperate. 

 
Bucky86 said:
Does executive privilege work for people that are not the president?
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I don't know. I think a side point is that Whitaker was Chief of Staff at DOJ also, it might be good if some Dem asked him to include his time as COS when answering. Because I'm also not sure if COS-AG would have EP.

 
SaintsInDome2006 said:
LOL ####, your 5 minutes are up.
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Betsy Woodruff‏Verified account @woodruffbets 10m10 minutes ago

!!!

Nadler asks Whitaker if he's been asked to approve any of Mueller's moves.

Whitaker: “Mr Chairman, I see that your five minutes is up I’m here voluntarily I agreed to five-minute rounds”

Gasps in the room

 
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