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The Democrats are just days away from Trump's actual administration oversight for the first time – and the presumed new Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), sent a message to Trump on what to expect from the new Congress on Friday. [19659002] Pelosi exploited Douglas Letter – a former Justice Department (DOJ) lawyer who served under Presidents Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan and George HW Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump before retiring in March, as the new senior counsel of the House.
"I look forward to using my litigation experience to meet the challenges and opportunities we face. with an important General Counsel position in the House, "said Letter in a statement from Pelosi's office.
Legal observers, including the legal editor of BuzzFeed News Chris Geidner and Carrie Johnson's NPR reporter DOJ described the move as a significant development.
The General Counsel of the Chamber provides legal assistance to members of Congress and their staff, and represents the Chamber in litigation matters. This means that Letter would oversee the efforts of the House to exercise a power of summons on the Trump administration.
This letter had already written to defend the public interest in the investigation of the special advocate Robert Mueller on the interference of Russia in the election of 2016 to United States. In September, he wrote an editorial claiming that claims to the privilege of the executive – an argument often invoked by the president – would not apply to Mueller's final report.
"[I]" The President makes the dangerous and stupid decision of Keep Mueller's work against the American people, the indignation should not be aimed at legal doctrines involving the privilege of the executive, but a president who will have made an extremely regrettable decision, "concluded the letter.
The letter is highly respected in legal circles. Benjamin Wittes, of Lawfare, pointed out that the departure of Letter, who had retired after four decades of "distinguished" work within the Department of Justice, had declared that the departure of someone who "represented the administrations of both sides in their most difficult litigation "did not suit Trump. [19659009] This is a very big deal and a very sad thing. Doug Letter has been running this office for a long time. It is a type of institution that has represented the administrations of both parties in the context of their most difficult litigation. He tells the worlds that he will not represent this one anymore. https://t.co/U6u5GRr90Q
– Benjamin Wittes (@benjaminwittes) January 2, 2018
Supreme Court Judges John Roberts and Neil Gorsuch reportedly attended the GDJ retirement party of Letter.
Last month, 40 seats in mid-session – a record for the party since an election since Watergate – Democrats are planning big plans for the power of summons that will accompany their new majority in the House January 3rd.
Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee intends to search for the President's tax returns, which Trump ignored from the public while disclosure was the norm for all presidential candidates since Nixon. The Chair of the Committee, Representative Richard Neal (D-MA), may obtain "IRS taxpayer records for confidential control purposes".
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), who will chair the House's powerful intelligence committee, hired money laundering and "forensic experts" to prepare for an investigation into the president's personal finances.
The future House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) announced Wednesday that his party would hold hearings on the treatment of migrants detained by the CIE following the death of two young children in the custody of the US government this month.
The majority – now with the help of Letter – will also seek to provide crucial protection to Mueller's investigation. Democrats "now have the ability to compel the production of evidence and hold public hearings on any unresolved issues that might fall under Mueller's jurisdiction or beyond" if Trump dismisses the special advocate or attempts to bury its conclusions.
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