Epstein Oversight

 

Not to worry - they'll "completely exonerate" Trump

 

UPDATE 08/09/2025:

Another episode of "They are so bad at this"

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

You'll (not) be surprised

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Democrats tit-for-tat to Hunter Biden: Jared Kushner

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Good luck with that

I don't know what good that would do.  He's already done the illegal shit, and who knows who he actually gave national secrets to.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Should Trump be worried?

Federal agents were seen searching a Park Avenue high-rise and a Southhampton estate Thursday connected to a Russian oligarch who recently had his yacht seized, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and FBI agents along with NYPD detectives were seen carrying boxes during a search of 515 Park Ave. in Manhattan and 19 Duck Pond Lane in Southampton. Records show those properties are linked to sanctioned Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg, a billionaire and close ally of President Vladimir Putin who heads the Moscow-based Renova Group, a conglomerate encompassing metals, mining, tech and other assets, according to U.S. Treasury Department documents.

[...]

A search is also underway at a property in Miami’s Fisher Island.

[...]

In addition to sanctions, Vekselberg has been the subject of a U.S. Department of Justice Investigation surrounding allegations of bank fraud. No charges have been filed in that regard, and sources say Thursday's law enforcement activity at the Manhattan and Long Island sites were just searches in connection with the ongoing sanctions. Those properties were not seized Thursday.

[...]

Vekselberg has long had ties to the U.S., including a green card he once held and homes in New York and Connecticut. He was also questioned in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and has worked closely with his American cousin, Andrew Intrater, who heads the New York investment management firm Columbus Nova.

  NBC

They're allowed to use whatever they find that was within the scope of the legal search.

Also...

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Oversight

More fun in New York

While back in DC....

 

House Oversight to investigate reproductive rights threats

And...what could they do about it???

DeJoy to testify

If he doesn't show, put him in jail.  Which should have happened to all those Trump criminals who refused to honor Congressional subpoenas during the impeachment.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Clyburn also endorsed Joe Biden

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

The loss of Elijah Cummings from Oversight

More military patronage for Trump properties

As President Donald Trump continues to face scrutiny over government spending at his hotels, a U.S. Marine Corps reserve unit stationed in South Florida appears to have been planning yet another event that could profit the U.S. leader, with hopes of holding a gala at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in November.

The location of the event is clearly listed as Mar-a-Lago on the event page. However, asked for details by the Herald, an unidentified Marine at the unit's drill center reportedly told the newspaper that plans for the event were not yet "set in stone."

[...]

"It's a work in progress," the marine said. "We are planning on Mar-a-Lago but nothing is set in stone. We booked it but there were complications involved. ... It's just money and some other things. We're doing our best."

  Newsweek

"Some other things."

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Under Dems/Cummings, Oversight Committee is actually conducting oversight

Now watch this

Watch it.  Representataive Cummings captures the right attitude.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

She won't comply

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Contempt vote

A day after the full House passed a civil contempt resolution authorizing its committees to take the Trump administration to court and pursue criminal contempt cases to enforce their subpoenas, the House Oversight Committee is testing the waters.

On Wednesday afternoon, the Oversight Committee passed a contempt resolution on a 24-15 vote for both Attorney General William Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, specifically because the Trump administration is not complying with the committee’s subpoena request for information on why they added a US citizenship question to the 2020 census. Republican Rep. Justin Amash (MI), a vocal supporter of impeaching President Trump, voted with Democrats.

[...]

Oversight Committee Chair Elijah Cummings (D-MD) and his committee members have been trying to learn more about why the citizenship question was added [to the 2020 census], seeking documents and witnesses from the administration to get answers.

Of course, they haven’t been successful — the Trump administration has refused to comply with the committee’s requests, as it has with all other congressional subpoenas. On Wednesday, the administration asserted sweeping executive privilege to block the committee’s access to documents related to the census.

[...]

Cummings’s proposed resolution is “to proceed with both criminal and civil actions to enforce the Committee’s bipartisan subpoenas,” meaning the committee could pursue a criminal contempt case against Ross and Barr. That’s a stronger stance than House Judiciary Chair Jerry Nadler (D-NY) has taken against Barr so far; on Monday, Nadler announced he was holding off on pursuing criminal contempt after his committee struck a deal with the Justice Department to get previously redacted parts of the Mueller report.

[...]

Cummings’s contempt resolution is the latest test of whether Congress can hold the Trump administration accountable.

  Vox

Except if it doesn't produce anything, it's not much good to us. Trump's people don't care.  They wear contempt like a badge.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

The many steps to becoming a dictatorship

Here's another one:

In a May 8 internal memo, which was obtained by The Washington Post, [acting defense secretary Patrick] Shanahan lays out the criteria for when Pentagon officials may provide congressional offices or committees information they request about operational plans and orders.

The memo comes as lawmakers from both parties complain that the Trump administration has withheld information that prevents them from executing their constitutionally mandated oversight role. Some lawmakers are also concerned about whether Shanahan has allowed the military to be drawn too deeply into President Trump’s immigration agenda.

“Congress oversees the Department of Defense; but with this new policy, the department is overstepping its authority by presuming to determine what warrants legislative oversight,” Reps. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) and Mac Thornberry (R-Tex.), the chair and ranking Republican of the House Armed Services Committee.

The memo was shared widely inside the Pentagon but was sent to key lawmakers only after inquiries by The Post. It outlines a half-dozen guidelines, including requirements that military officials and political appointees evaluate whether the request “contains sufficient information to demonstrate a relationship to the legislative function.”

  WaPo

The request doesn't get to be evaluated by the military. The "legislative function" is oversight.

The memo appears to have been inspired by concerns that lawmakers, who have security clearances, will not safeguard military plans.

The inspiration for the memo is obvious: unitary executive; all power to the presidency.

One day it's going to be too late to impeach.

A defense official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe military officials’ thinking about the memo, said Pentagon leaders had been concerned about preserving the military chain of command and about the potential for congressional interference in what they consider to be an executive branch function, the formulation of military operations.

[...]

The memo could complicate Senate confirmation hearings for Shanahan, who took over in January after his predecessor, Jim Mattis, resigned over differences with Trump. Shanahan is expected to appear before the Senate Armed Services Committee in June.

I guess they're going on the assumption that Congress will talk trash and then confirm him anyway. They have good reason to assume it, too.

In the new memo, Shanahan concentrates responsibility for evaluating congressional requests in the office of the undersecretary of defense for policy, which is typically led by a political appointee. Previously, officials across the Defense Department responded to requests on a more ad hoc basis, in keeping with what officials described as a “gentleman’s agreement” with lawmakers.

There are no gentlemen in this administration.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Go home, Nancy

According to a Washington Post report, Judiciary Committee chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) has met privately with [Speaker of the House Nancy] Pelosi to recommend starting an impeachment inquiry but was reportedly rebuffed by the Speaker who argued the move lacks support among other caucus members and it could undermine other ongoing House investigations.

[...]

During a leadership meeting on Monday, Pelosi and allies in House leadership, including Reps. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.), pushed back on calls from other Democratic leaders, including Reps. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) and Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), to begin impeachment proceedings, Politico reported citing multiple sources.

[...]

After his meeting with Pelosi, Nadler, while he did not rule out impeachment, appeared sympathetic to Pelosi’s perspective, according to the Post, citing a Monday ruling from a federal judge upholding a Democratic subpoena as evidence other institutions could support oversight of the Trump administration.

[...]

Pelosi and her allies argued the dispute over impeachment is stealing oxygen from Democratic messaging on other political issues.
  The Hill

Then stop disputing it.

Raskin, a former law professor, argued that even if the House did not outright impeach Trump, an impeachment inquiry could allow the party to both make the case for removing Trump and pursue its legislative agenda at the same time, according to Politico.

Pelosi reportedly pushed back, asking Raskin if he wanted to “tell [Rep.] Elijah Cummings [D-Md.] to go home,” referencing ongoing investigations into the Trump administration by the House Oversight Committee chairman as well as four other committees engaged in similar investigations.

Cummings' investigations can't be integrated into an impeachment hearing?*  YOU go home, Nancy.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE:



UUPDATE:  Also, as noted in Judge Mehta's recent ruling saying Trump cannot block a House Committee subpoena of his financial records , the Oversight Committee, according to House Rules, may investigate anything, even if it's being investigated by another agency: