Trump’s Attacks on the Constitution
FRED WERTHEIMER’S WEEKLY NOTE | MAY 9, 2019
“Trump is attempting to rewrite the Constitution in order to cover up his transgressions, and is making clear that he believes the rule of law doesn’t apply to him.”
We are faced today with a direct threat to our constitutional system of government.
In a historically unprecedented move, President Trump has declared that his Administration is not going to comply with any subpoenas issued by the House of Representatives. Trump is attempting to prevent the House from conducting its constitutionally derived powers to exercise oversight of the Executive Branch.
This is an arrogant attack on the nation’s constitutional system of checks and balances by an authoritarian President and it cannot be allowed to stand.
Furthermore, President Trump is claiming Executive Privilege over the unredacted Mueller report and its underlying investigative materials, as well as documents held by former White House Counsel Don McGahn, in order to prevent the House from following up on the Mueller investigation, as Special Counsel Robert Mueller explicitly indicated Congress should do.
Trump has also indicated he is prepared to claim Executive Privilege to attempt to block the testimony of witnesses the Committee plans to call, such as McGahn.
All of this constitutes a stonewalling campaign by the President to delay congressional access to the full Mueller report and to witnesses who can testify about the report.
Trump, at all costs, wants to prevent televised hearings on the Mueller report where witnesses named in the report would inform and educate the American people about President Trump’s wrongdoings.
These are the actions of someone who apparently believes he has plenty to hide, and it makes a complete mockery out of Trump’s claim that “I have been the most transparent president and administration in the history of our country by far.”
Trump is attempting to rewrite the Constitution in order to cover up his transgressions, and is making clear that he believes the rule of law doesn’t apply to him.
Trump’s attack on our constitutional system of government must and will be defeated.
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Fred Wertheimer is the Founder and President of Democracy 21, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that works to strengthen our democracy and ensure the integrity and fairness of government decisions and elections. See previous Notes from Fred here.
