House Democrats are dead set to try and compel Don McGahn to testify even after losing their bid to the courts last week:
FOX NEWS – The Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee filed a petition with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Friday asking it to have an “en banc” rehearing – a hearing before all 11 judges on the court – of its case to enforce a subpoena against former White House Counsel Don McGahn.
A three-judge panel ruled last week against the committee’s efforts to force McGahn to testify before the committee – saying it didn’t have the authority to do so – dealing a blow to House Democrats in litigation they have been pursuing since shortly after former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russian election interference was released. The committee hopes a hearing with all 11 judges on the circuit court will give it a more favorable result.
“Misread binding precedent”
“The Committee’s petition argues that the panel’s ruling misread binding precedent and – if allowed to stand – would severely undermine the House’s ability to perform its constitutional functions as a check on the Executive Branch,” Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., said in a statement Friday.
He added: “In fact, none other than President Trump’s own lawyers told the American people over and over again during the impeachment trial that the House should have gone to court to enforce its subpoenas. In addition, two of the three judges on the panel strongly suggested that they would reject President Trump’s claim of ‘absolute immunity’ if they were able to reach the merits of the case.”
I’m not sure it’s the smartest thing to tell a court that they “misread binding precedent” in order to get a rehearing. But let’s just say they do get a rehearing and the court decides to allow a subpoena for McGahn to testify. What then? As the judge last week noted, McGahn will just refuse to answer based on executive privilege.
Democrats are desperate to find something that will harm Trump because everything they’ve done to him thus far, including the recent impeachment hoax, has only made him stronger. I hope the courts deny their request and send them packing.