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Trump adopts a strategy of total resistance to broad-based democratic efforts to use their majority in the House to investigate his behavior and administration so that critics blame Congress for its constitutional role.
His game will force Democratic leaders to find new political and legal means to coerce cooperation as they sought to probe Robert Mueller's revelations, to obtain Trump's tax returns, to investigate his company. and to force current and former representatives of the administration to testify.
Lawmakers suspend their work since publishing a redacted version of the Mueller report earlier this month, sparing Republicans the burden of weighing on its image of lying and chicanery, though apparently no crime at the White House Trump.
This will change this week and the GOP lawmakers will be sure to point out to reporters that Mr Mueller has not drawn a plot between Trump's 2016 campaign and Russia and has not been able to determine whether or not the president obstructed justice.
In the escalation of the surveillance war, House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democrat Leader Chuck Schumer will go to Trump on Tuesday to try to find a way to work together – on infrastructure.
The atmosphere of confrontation between the White House and the Democrats at Capitol Hill could however give rise to hope for some common ground even in one area.
Barr tries to make the rules
The extent of this mistrust was evident in the weekend skirmishes between the Justice Department and the Democrats at Capitol Hill. Barr challenged the conditions of the hearing before the Democratic-led Judiciary's House Judiciary Committee, questioning his appearance.
In a statement released on Sunday, the department said Barr would only show up if members of Congress asked the questions.
"The Attorney General has agreed to appear before Congress, so it will be the members of Congress who will ask the questions," the statement said. "He remains happy to discuss with MPs their questions regarding the Mueller report."
But Judicial Democratic Committee chairman Jerrold Nadler told CNN on Sunday that "the witness is not going to tell the committee how to conduct a hearing, period."
Nadler plans to allow members to ask questions, but also to use the advice of the Judiciary Committee of the House – one from each party – to respond to questions.
Asked what he would do if Barr did not comply with the decision, Nadler, a New York Democrat, said: "We will then have to summon him to appear, and we will have to use every possible means to apply the subpoena. "
Her political advisor, Kellyanne Conway, hinted at CNN's Jake Tapper on "The State of the Union" Sunday that Trump would try to prevent his former lawyer, Don McGahn, from testifying about the Mueller report, including Mueller's testimony that the president ordered him to dismiss the president. special advocate.
"The privilege of the executive is always an option, he's still on the table, but Don McGahn has already spoken under oath for 30 hours, and that's just presidential harassment," Conway said. adding that "the right" of Trump is to use this power.
Last week, the White House ordered former manager Carl Kline to fail to comply after being summoned by the oversight committee as part of an investigation into the processing of security clearances by the company. # 39; administration.
Democrats seek a strategy
The multi-frontier resistance of the administration to control leaves the Democratic leaders to consider extraordinary measures to react, including the opening of legal proceedings to enforce subpoenas and even threats of fines or fines. of imprisoning targets that challenge them.
A long legal confrontation that could last months in court is now inevitable. Some cases may eventually lead to the newly restored Conservative majority in the Supreme Court.
Trump, with his talent for shaping the political battle, brandished Barr's account of the Mueller report – which ignores many of the troubling conclusions of the special council – to put Democrats on the defensive.
"We have finished no collusion, no obstruction, is not it?" Then I go out the first day they say, "Let's do it again," and I said, "That's enough, we have to run a country, "Trump told reporters on Friday.
"It's a pure political witch hunt … if I'm guilty of anything, it's that I've been a great president and the Democrats do not like it, which is a shame."
Trump is more than happy to fight because he is constantly looking for ways to strengthen his political base – a factor all the more important given the accelerating 2020 campaign.
And he is always the happiest and often the most effective in the midst of a fight in which his will to ignore the conventions and the normal order of the constitutional battle confers him an advantage.
While the Democratic Party is divided on the issue of impeachment, there is consensus on the need to use its majority in the House to present to voters the motive that Trump so despises efforts to limit his power and that his administration is so corrupt that he is not fit to fill a second term.
"I think Mr. Mueller has set a roadmap for us," said South Carolina Representative James Clyburn on ABC News "This Week".
"There is one thing to follow on the road to impeachment." It's another thing to lay the groundwork, collect the facts, educate the American people so that we can see exactly what needs to be done. to be done and when we should do it, "said Clyburn. "
CNN's Manu Raju, Jeremy Herb, Laura Jarrett, Ted Barrett and Sara Murray contributed to this story.
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