Democrats Are Running Out of Time
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The legal battle to investigate the Donald Trump presidency must begin sooner rather than later.
Democrats crossed a significant line last week in their ongoing battle for oversight of the Donald Trump administration. The Judiciary Committee found Attorney General William Barr in contempt of Congress for failing to hand over an unredacted copy of the Mueller report as demanded in a subpoena. While few Attorneys General have ever been found in contempt of Congress, skeptics point out that the decision may not actually lead to any punishment for Barr. Congress often refers its contempt decisions to the Justice Department, which is currently led by Barr. Few reasonable observers have suggested that the cautious House Democratic leadership will take the next step and have the House sergeant-at-arms physically restrain Barr in the Capitol.
The ambivalence about Barr’s contempt citation highlights a critique of Democrats from their supporters over at least the past decade. Democrats have been viewed as feckless and weak by a large number of liberal activists. This perception has been reinforced by the frequent efforts that Democratic leaders have made to negotiate and reason with their Republican targets. Nearly every week, a congressional leader reaches out for a meeting with Trump about infrastructure, or postpones a subpoena for a Trump aide. The reasons are clear. Speaker Nancy Pelosi wants to show swing district voters that she is trying to secure public policy on their behalf. “I would be delinquent if I didn’t try to work with him to get something done for the American people,” she said at a recent news conference. Committee leaders Jerrold Nadler and Adam Schiff want to bolster their subpoenas’ chances in court by trying to accommodate Republicans, and then showing instance after instance of unwarranted Republican insolence. Each would argue that their tactics have the best chance of combating Republicans and defeating Trump in 2020.
But Democrats need to move past this cautious, negotiated approach. They need to issue subpoenas, arrest federal officials for contempt of Congress immediately, and then begin planning for the inevitable Supreme Court case. Every day that goes by increases the chances of Democratic efforts being thwarted during the Trump presidency or during the Nancy Pelosi speakership. Democrats…
