General Trump hilarity free-for-all thread

[Cain]

Sadly I suspect it's even worse than that.

Besides, Trump might not want to talk about criminality and Turkey too loudly, lest people remember his own National Security Adviser was on Turkey's payroll and planning a kidnapping of a US resident.

[Doktor Howl]

Sadly I suspect it's even worse than that.

Besides, Trump might not want to talk about criminality and Turkey too loudly, lest people remember his own National Security Adviser was on Turkey's payroll and planning a kidnapping of a US resident.

Sweet Jesus.

[Cain]

Everyone always forgets about Mikey Flynn. I don't forget.

[Doktor Howl]

Quote of the day

"As I have stated strongly before, and just to reiterate, if Turkey does anything that I, in my great and unmatched wisdom, consider to be off limits, I will totally destroy and obliterate the Economy of Turkey," he tweeted.

https://www.apnews.com/ac3115b4eb564288a03a5b8be868d2e5

[Junkenstein]

Sadly I suspect it's even worse than that.

Besides, Trump might not want to talk about criminality and Turkey too loudly, lest people remember his own National Security Adviser was on Turkey's payroll and planning a kidnapping of a US resident.

Sweet Jesus.

On this basis, I'm expecting the diplomats wife returned for planning permissions. Though you could probably get away with a sack of sand with dollar signs on it.

[Doktor Howl]

GOP ignoring subpoenas and once again getting away with it.

https://www.apnews.com/afe01764208b4eefabb2255fb6a45653

[Cain]

So I know actual courts can find you in contempt if you pull stuff like this and fine you or throw you in jail.

What can Congress do?

[Doktor Howl]

So I know actual courts can find you in contempt if you pull stuff like this and fine you or throw you in jail.

What can Congress do?

Same thing.  They just lack the intestinal fortitude to do it.

If I were in Pelosi's shoes, Pompeo would be arrested the moment he stepped back onto American soil.

[Cain]

Ah I see, the procedural mechanisms presuppose the possibility of a working spine.

[altered]

As far as I know, Congress doesn't have an enforcement arm and needs to go through the FBI (which is silly for this exact reason).

It may not be the FBI, but if it's not it's like the US Marshalls or some other exec-branch group. Congress does not, as far as I know, have their own cops to arrest people with.

Now comes the trick: because of the above, Congress can only politely request that law enforcement do something. The president can order.

I have come around a bit on terms of enforcing punishments for ignoring subpoenas for this reason. It gets you nothing extra and gives the president even greater leverage over you. When the president is a shit-clotted hybrid of a weasel and a brain dead orangutan, you're better off keeping it for later, lest he realize that he has effectively absolute power to kill the entire process.

[Bruno]

So could Trump order Pelosi and Schiff to be arrested, then?

[altered]

Technically, yeah. It's the stupid thing about all of this.

[Doktor Howl]

As far as I know, Congress doesn't have an enforcement arm and needs to go through the FBI (which is silly for this exact reason).

It may not be the FBI, but if it's not it's like the US Marshalls or some other exec-branch group. Congress does not, as far as I know, have their own cops to arrest people with.

Now comes the trick: because of the above, Congress can only politely request that law enforcement do something. The president can order.

I have come around a bit on terms of enforcing punishments for ignoring subpoenas for this reason. It gets you nothing extra and gives the president even greater leverage over you. When the president is a shit-clotted hybrid of a weasel and a brain dead orangutan, you're better off keeping it for later, lest he realize that he has effectively absolute power to kill the entire process.

The sergeant at arms has arrest authority that is strictly limited to contempt.

[Pergamos]

Technically, yeah. It's the stupid thing about all of this.

Wouldn't he need a warrant?

[altered]

That's the "technical" part. He's in charge. I would need to refresh myself to be 100% again on this, but I'm about 85% sure which, given my tendency to lowball my certainty as a general rule, is pretty damn certain.

As the lawful leader of the executive branch, he can tell executive branch employees Do This Thing and it is in fact an actual order to do it.

The brakes on this are normally impeachment and charges against the people who carry out the unlawful orders. Impeachment is already on the table, so we can forget that, and Barr has his head so far up Trump's ass he's using his spleen for a backup brain stem, so charges brought by the DOJ can be ignored. Functionally speaking, for a man as egotistical and idiotic as Trump, there is nothing keeping him from just repeating the orders until someone does them, then telling Barr it's all fine, it's fine, they're traitors anyway, don't charge my very special friends.