Blog Credo

The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.

H.L. Mencken

Wednesday, May 8, 2019

The Looming Battle Is Everything

We are entering an extremely fraught moment in our country's history.  That's not hyperbole. Trump has basically decided that he will no longer cooperate in any meaningful way with Congressional oversight. He has denied lawful subpoenas for his tax returns, William Barr's testimony before the House and is considering stopping Robert Mueller from testifying.  He knows he has the complete, unwavering support of the GOP in this.  The economy is booming (though the Dow took a bit of a tumble yesterday) and Trump clearly sees the largest threat to his re-election being his personal failures.  So he is going to stonewall the House at every opportunity.

As Jon Chait notes, there are legitimate security questions surrounding Trump's tax returns and business practices leading up to his election (if not after). The Times has already demonstrated what astute observers have known: that Trump is a terrible business man. His tax returns will further demonstrate this, plus potentially demonstrate Trump's exposure to financial coercion.

Sadly, we are now reliant on Courts that the GOP has been assiduously packing for the last two years to force the President of the United States to comply with the law.  And honestly, what happens if the Supreme Court tells Trump to turn over his tax returns and he says, "no"?  What happens then? 

I'm not sure I want to find out.

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