Mackenzie Walz  //  12/3/19  //  Daily Update

Impeachment wrangling continues. There is noteworthy commentary about executive privilege and the nature of impeachment inquiries. And a federal appeals court denies DOJ's request to lift a stay that has halted planned executions of four federal inmates.

IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY  

Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo condemned the House Judiciary Committee for holding impeachment hearings while President Trump is abroad (WaPo).

• Present Trump also complained about the occurrence of these hearings specifically while he attends the NATO summit (WaPo).

The White House’s impeachment strategy consists of no defense except President Trump’s usual defense of declaring a process unfair when it doesn’t go his way, contends Paul Waldman for The Washington Post.

• The White House’s letter refusing to participate in the House impeachment hearing scheduled for December 4th is available here.

An indicted associate of Rudy Giuliani requested a New York federal court to release the materials seized during his arrest to the House impeachment investigation committees (The Hill).

• The DOJ said it would not stop him from cooperating with the investigation (WaPo).

The ranking members of the House committees managing the impeachment inquiry released a report on the investigation, declaring it an “orchestrated campaign” (LawFare).

• The report is available here.

JUSTICE & SAFETY

Sanctions on Iran have fueled protests throughout the country but have not furthered US goals of renegotiating the nuclear deal or scaling back malign actions in the Middle East, discusses David Sanger for The New York Times.

REGULATION

President Trump’s impulsive imposition of tariffs undercuts his goal of encouraging businesses to invest in the US, argues Henry Olsen for The Washington Post.

CHECKS & BALANCES

The recent district court opinion requiring the White House Counsel to testify before Congress rejected absolute immunity for presidential aides, but did not reject the assertion of executive privilege on a case by case basis, explains Michael Dorf for Dorf on Law.

• The district court denied a motion by the DOJ to stay this decision (Lawfare).

 A federal appeals court denied the DOJ’s request to lift the district court stays of four federal executions (The Hill).

RULE OF LAW

President Trump’s presidency is demonstrating that the Founders’ response to the presidency of a demagogue  – congressional impeachment – is limited, discusses Bob Bauer for The New York Times.