WASHINGTON, D.C., May 28, 2019 – In the latest edition of Yeomans Work, AFJ Senior Justice Fellow Bill Yeomans bemoans House inaction on oversight of the Trump Administration. He writes: “The House greeted the release of the redacted Mueller report by taking a 10-day recess. After returning for several weeks of name-calling between the Speaker and the President, the issuance of a bunch of subpoenas, threats of contempt, and two court victories, the House ran out of gas and headed off for another 10-day recess.” That recess continues this week.
Yeomans writes that while cases regarding congressional subpoenas for Trump’s business and financial records work their way through federal courts, the House could — and should — be doing more. “The Democratic mantra during the 2018 election campaign was to wait for the Mueller report,” he writes. “When the report was delivered, the House announced its wait for the unredacted report and then for Mueller’s testimony. Waiting for Mueller has become a paralyzing syndrome.” Instead of just waiting, Yeomans says, the House Judiciary Committee should educate the public on the contents of the report. “It can bring in experts to testify about parts of the report, explaining the facts and the law,” Yeomans continues. “Nearly 1,000 former federal prosecutors have now signed a letter saying Trump would be in cuffs if he were not president. I’ll bet at least 800 of them would be glad to testify or assist in other ways.”
Meanwhile the danger of further delay is that the public is getting a message that the facts in Mueller’s report are not enough to spur action — when the reality is that they are more than enough to establish egregious conduct by the President. “The task now is less to gather facts than to help the public understand the facts before them,” Yeomans concludes — and the House Judiciary Committee should take on that responsibility.
Yeomans Work focuses on the challenges to the justice system in the era of Trump. Bill Yeomans is available for media interviews. His opinions are his own and do not necessarily represent the positions of Alliance for Justice. Contact Laurie Kinney, Communications Director, at laurie@afj.org or 202-464-7367.