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Trump's Strategy Flip

Not known for his sense of irony, President Donald Trump probably fails to appreciate that his arguments for beating back Congress' subpoena of his accountant's records are the polar opposite of arguments he has employed to justify his own conduct.

In fact, Trump's personal complaint against House Oversight Committee Chair Elijah Cummings, D-Md., is the mirror image of the arguments he advanced to defend his travel ban, which the Supreme Court upheld last year in Trump v. Hawaii.

The lawsuit Trump filed Monday morning seeking a court order to block Cummings' subpoena to Mazars USA, an accountant for the president and Trump Organization, is as much a work of political rhetoric as a claim for legal relief.

Trump took the exact opposite approach in Trump v. Hawaii. There, his own statements on the campaign trail had left the strong inference that his immigration order, however dressed, was a "Muslim ban." But Trump argued that the court needed to focus on whether the order fell within the exercise of legitimate executive authority, while discounting or ignoring his own incendiary political propaganda or engaging in psychological second-guessing of the "real" reason for his decisions.

Fast forward to Monday's lawsuit. Just as the president's power to police the borders is well established, so is Congress's power of oversight, which the court has made clear is an adjunct of its legislative function. But now, it's Trump who is questioning motives, averring that Congress lacks any legitimate legislative purpose because its real reason for seeking the accounting records is to harass the president and score political points for 2020.

Thus, Trump is urging the court to undertake the same kind of psychoanalysis of Congress that he insisted the court avoid in Trump v. Hawaii. And the reasoning in that case applies with full force. In fact, the very case Trump cites to argue the absence of a valid legislative purpose in his complaint against Cummings cuts sharply in the opposite direction.

[sltrib.com]

Not only does Trump have no sense of irony, hypocrisy does not faze him in the slightest.

Germaine 6 Apr 24
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House Committee on Oversight and Reform has no legislative agenda regarding the subpoena of someone's personal accounting. The individual right to privacy trumps - Watkins u. United States

Legislative Subpoenas are for legislative actions and must meet the following requirements:
(1)Congress has the power to investigate;
(2)The Committee or Subcommittee has a proper grant of authority to conduct the investigation; and
(3)The materials sought are pertinent to the investigation and within the scope of the grant of authority.

This committee is not part of the Judicial branch. Cummings is making a mockery of his oath of office.

@Germaine keyword is authorized. Ways and Means is specifically authorized in a closed session only. Other committees, in closed session, must be specifically authorized by passing a house resolution. Further, this is specific to returns and return information, and not your accountants paper work. Any public disclosure of this private information is subject to censure and may even be a felony.

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So you're saying skilled politician?
Sadly foregoing any stated principle for a positive outcome for your agenda is operational status normal these days.

Not saying I agree with it . It's just the world we live in.

@Germaine it's a arguable point to be made that America has long become a take your pick of possible authoritarians.

Like you stated you consider it deeply immoral as most individuals regardless of party would objectively observing.

The problem is how do we fix the issue. Clearly expecting more responsibility and moral fortitude is a minority opinion within both parties.
A third or fourth party option can't seem to gain enough support while being drowned out.

A lot of people recognize the issue regardless of party but don't have an option otherwise.

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