SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer speak at a press conference in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)
After Trump Impeachment Acquittal, Dems to Largely End Investigations of President
"House Dems did literally the narrowest possible impeachment they could. The overwhelming majority of Trump's corruption remains uninvestigated."
Feb 16, 2020
House Democrats are pivoting away from investigations of President Donald Trump and toward economic issues and healthcare for the 2020 general election in November, according to a New York Times report, and shelving--for now--intentions to subpoena former National Security Advisor John Bolton and, in the eyes of critics, giving the president carte blanche on his machinations in the Justice Department.
The shift toward so-called "kitchen table issues" and a deprioritization of investigations raised eyebrows as political observers noted that Trump has only been emboldened by acquittal and that DOJ is currently roiled in a scandal over the president's pressuring of Attorney General William Barr on prosecutions.
"Dems are gonna 'run on healthcare' while letting Bill Barr turn the Justice Department into muscle for the Trump organization," tweeted Atlantic staff writer Adam Serwer.
\u201cDems are gonna \u201crun on health care\u201d while letting Bill Barr turn the Justice Department into muscle for the Trump organization https://t.co/IuhIOyTCie\u201d— Adam Serwer \ud83c\udf5d (@Adam Serwer \ud83c\udf5d) 1581890392
As Common Dreams reported, Trump's meddling in DOJ prosecutions and sentencing guidelines has presented career prosecutors with a dilemma over how to proceed in a department that by all appearances has lost its independence. On Sunday, over 1,100 former DOJ officials signed an open letter to Barr asking him to resign over Trump's interference.
"House Dems did literally the narrowest possible impeachment they could," said Crooked Media's Brian Beutler. "The overwhelming majority of Trump's corruption remains uninvestigated. And they have now made the decision to normalize his dictatorial control over DOJ."
The Times reported that House Democrats will bring Barr in for testimony:
Democrats have summoned Mr. Barr to testify before the Judiciary Committee on March 31. In a harshly worded letter sent to Mr. Barr on Wednesday, Representative Jerrold Nadler of New York, the panel's chairman, signaled that Democrats planned to question Mr. Barr about overruling prosecutors on Mr. Stone's recommended sentence and Mr. Barr's willingness to accept information about Ukraine from Rudolph W. Giuliani, the president's personal lawyer, among other matters.
But, the Times added, that is the extent to which Democrats would like to take things, preferring instead to focus on healthcare and jobs. To that end, party leaders brought Steven Rattner, a financier whose firm manages former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's assets, to show lawmakers a PowerPoint presentation on how to speak on economic issues to everyday Americans.
As for Bolton, Democrats appear ready to move on from the former White House advisor's testimony.
On February 5, Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) told CNN that the House still intended to subpoena Bolton on what Bolton knew and when about the president's scheme to pressure Ukraine into announcing an investigation into Trump's political rival, former Vice President Joe Biden. But Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) told the Times that the House has no plans to do so and that the caucus' focus is largely shifting to domestic issues.
"I've been very clear and I think the speaker has, and other leaders, that our focus should continue to be on the 'For the People' agenda, which we articulated to the American people in advance of November 2018," said Jeffries.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
House Democrats are pivoting away from investigations of President Donald Trump and toward economic issues and healthcare for the 2020 general election in November, according to a New York Times report, and shelving--for now--intentions to subpoena former National Security Advisor John Bolton and, in the eyes of critics, giving the president carte blanche on his machinations in the Justice Department.
The shift toward so-called "kitchen table issues" and a deprioritization of investigations raised eyebrows as political observers noted that Trump has only been emboldened by acquittal and that DOJ is currently roiled in a scandal over the president's pressuring of Attorney General William Barr on prosecutions.
"Dems are gonna 'run on healthcare' while letting Bill Barr turn the Justice Department into muscle for the Trump organization," tweeted Atlantic staff writer Adam Serwer.
\u201cDems are gonna \u201crun on health care\u201d while letting Bill Barr turn the Justice Department into muscle for the Trump organization https://t.co/IuhIOyTCie\u201d— Adam Serwer \ud83c\udf5d (@Adam Serwer \ud83c\udf5d) 1581890392
As Common Dreams reported, Trump's meddling in DOJ prosecutions and sentencing guidelines has presented career prosecutors with a dilemma over how to proceed in a department that by all appearances has lost its independence. On Sunday, over 1,100 former DOJ officials signed an open letter to Barr asking him to resign over Trump's interference.
"House Dems did literally the narrowest possible impeachment they could," said Crooked Media's Brian Beutler. "The overwhelming majority of Trump's corruption remains uninvestigated. And they have now made the decision to normalize his dictatorial control over DOJ."
The Times reported that House Democrats will bring Barr in for testimony:
Democrats have summoned Mr. Barr to testify before the Judiciary Committee on March 31. In a harshly worded letter sent to Mr. Barr on Wednesday, Representative Jerrold Nadler of New York, the panel's chairman, signaled that Democrats planned to question Mr. Barr about overruling prosecutors on Mr. Stone's recommended sentence and Mr. Barr's willingness to accept information about Ukraine from Rudolph W. Giuliani, the president's personal lawyer, among other matters.
But, the Times added, that is the extent to which Democrats would like to take things, preferring instead to focus on healthcare and jobs. To that end, party leaders brought Steven Rattner, a financier whose firm manages former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's assets, to show lawmakers a PowerPoint presentation on how to speak on economic issues to everyday Americans.
As for Bolton, Democrats appear ready to move on from the former White House advisor's testimony.
On February 5, Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) told CNN that the House still intended to subpoena Bolton on what Bolton knew and when about the president's scheme to pressure Ukraine into announcing an investigation into Trump's political rival, former Vice President Joe Biden. But Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) told the Times that the House has no plans to do so and that the caucus' focus is largely shifting to domestic issues.
"I've been very clear and I think the speaker has, and other leaders, that our focus should continue to be on the 'For the People' agenda, which we articulated to the American people in advance of November 2018," said Jeffries.
House Democrats are pivoting away from investigations of President Donald Trump and toward economic issues and healthcare for the 2020 general election in November, according to a New York Times report, and shelving--for now--intentions to subpoena former National Security Advisor John Bolton and, in the eyes of critics, giving the president carte blanche on his machinations in the Justice Department.
The shift toward so-called "kitchen table issues" and a deprioritization of investigations raised eyebrows as political observers noted that Trump has only been emboldened by acquittal and that DOJ is currently roiled in a scandal over the president's pressuring of Attorney General William Barr on prosecutions.
"Dems are gonna 'run on healthcare' while letting Bill Barr turn the Justice Department into muscle for the Trump organization," tweeted Atlantic staff writer Adam Serwer.
\u201cDems are gonna \u201crun on health care\u201d while letting Bill Barr turn the Justice Department into muscle for the Trump organization https://t.co/IuhIOyTCie\u201d— Adam Serwer \ud83c\udf5d (@Adam Serwer \ud83c\udf5d) 1581890392
As Common Dreams reported, Trump's meddling in DOJ prosecutions and sentencing guidelines has presented career prosecutors with a dilemma over how to proceed in a department that by all appearances has lost its independence. On Sunday, over 1,100 former DOJ officials signed an open letter to Barr asking him to resign over Trump's interference.
"House Dems did literally the narrowest possible impeachment they could," said Crooked Media's Brian Beutler. "The overwhelming majority of Trump's corruption remains uninvestigated. And they have now made the decision to normalize his dictatorial control over DOJ."
The Times reported that House Democrats will bring Barr in for testimony:
Democrats have summoned Mr. Barr to testify before the Judiciary Committee on March 31. In a harshly worded letter sent to Mr. Barr on Wednesday, Representative Jerrold Nadler of New York, the panel's chairman, signaled that Democrats planned to question Mr. Barr about overruling prosecutors on Mr. Stone's recommended sentence and Mr. Barr's willingness to accept information about Ukraine from Rudolph W. Giuliani, the president's personal lawyer, among other matters.
But, the Times added, that is the extent to which Democrats would like to take things, preferring instead to focus on healthcare and jobs. To that end, party leaders brought Steven Rattner, a financier whose firm manages former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's assets, to show lawmakers a PowerPoint presentation on how to speak on economic issues to everyday Americans.
As for Bolton, Democrats appear ready to move on from the former White House advisor's testimony.
On February 5, Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) told CNN that the House still intended to subpoena Bolton on what Bolton knew and when about the president's scheme to pressure Ukraine into announcing an investigation into Trump's political rival, former Vice President Joe Biden. But Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) told the Times that the House has no plans to do so and that the caucus' focus is largely shifting to domestic issues.
"I've been very clear and I think the speaker has, and other leaders, that our focus should continue to be on the 'For the People' agenda, which we articulated to the American people in advance of November 2018," said Jeffries.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.