Daily Update | May 22, 2019
Adam Smith // 5/22/19 //
The power struggle between the Trump Administration and Congress continues: The Democratic House moves towards impeachment, while two federal judges reject the President’s assertions of privilege. The President will appoint Ken Cuccinelli, a former Virginia attorney general and vocal anti-immigration hardliner, as his new immigration czar.
TRUMP: INVESTIGATIONS AND LITIGATION
As President Trump and his aides, former and present, continue to stonewall Congressional subpoenas, a Democratic House inches towards impeachment (NYT, AP).
- Should the House impeach the President, the scope of its investigatory powers will grow unimpeachably broad, argue Molly Reynolds and Margaret Taylor at Lawfare.
- In any case, the Administration’s strategy isn’t likely to find refuge in the courts, contends Bob Bauer at Just Security.
A Washington, D.C., federal district court held that the President’s accounting firm must comply with a House subpoena (The Hill)
- The President immediately appealed the order to the D.C. Circuit (notice of appeal here).
And a New York federal district court ordered the release of search warrants from Robert Mueller’s investigation of the President’s former personal counsel, Michael Cohen (CNN).
IMMIGRATION
The President is expected to name Ken Cuccinelli, a former Virginia Attorney General and anti-immigration hardliner, as his immigration czar (NYT).