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Nancy and The Penguin must be climbing the walls:
Appeals court rejects House Democrats' bid to enforce Don McGahn subpoena
by Jerry Dunleavy, Justice Department Reporter |
August 31, 2020 02:50 PM
An appeals court panel rejected an effort by House Democrats to have the court enforce a subpoena for testimony from former White House counsel Don McGahn, concluding the congressional committee lacks a cause of action.
The 2-1 ruling by a three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia resulted in a nine-page majority opinion by Judge Thomas Griffith, appointed by former President George W. Bush in 2005. Judge Karen Henderson, an appointee of former President George H.W. Bush, joined the opinion. Earlier this month, the full D.C. appeals court ruled that the Democratic-led House Judiciary Committee had standing to sue the federal courts to enforce its subpoena against McGahn but sent it back to a three-judge appeals panel to look at other issues.
“The en banc court held that the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives has Article III standing to seek judicial enforcement of a subpoena issued to former White House Counsel Donald F. McGahn. It remanded the case to this three-judge panel to consider the remaining issues, including whether the Committee has a cause of action to enforce its subpoena and, if so, whether McGahn must testify despite the Executive Branch’s assertion of absolute testimonial immunity,” the majority opinion stated. “We have no occasion to address the immunity argument because we conclude that the Committee lacks a cause of action. Accordingly, the case must be dismissed.”
The ruling is a win for the Trump administration and makes it unlikely that McGahn will be forced to testify before the November election, if ever. The House Judiciary Committee, led by Democratic Chairman Jerry Nadler of New York, had been trying to obtain testimony from McGahn since early 2019 on matters relating to special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, but the White House blocked him from testifying under the cover of "absolute immunity" from congressional subpoenas.
More here:
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/...-democrats-bid-to-enforce-don-mcgahn-subpoena
Appeals court rejects House Democrats' bid to enforce Don McGahn subpoena
by Jerry Dunleavy, Justice Department Reporter |
August 31, 2020 02:50 PM
An appeals court panel rejected an effort by House Democrats to have the court enforce a subpoena for testimony from former White House counsel Don McGahn, concluding the congressional committee lacks a cause of action.
The 2-1 ruling by a three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia resulted in a nine-page majority opinion by Judge Thomas Griffith, appointed by former President George W. Bush in 2005. Judge Karen Henderson, an appointee of former President George H.W. Bush, joined the opinion. Earlier this month, the full D.C. appeals court ruled that the Democratic-led House Judiciary Committee had standing to sue the federal courts to enforce its subpoena against McGahn but sent it back to a three-judge appeals panel to look at other issues.
“The en banc court held that the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives has Article III standing to seek judicial enforcement of a subpoena issued to former White House Counsel Donald F. McGahn. It remanded the case to this three-judge panel to consider the remaining issues, including whether the Committee has a cause of action to enforce its subpoena and, if so, whether McGahn must testify despite the Executive Branch’s assertion of absolute testimonial immunity,” the majority opinion stated. “We have no occasion to address the immunity argument because we conclude that the Committee lacks a cause of action. Accordingly, the case must be dismissed.”
The ruling is a win for the Trump administration and makes it unlikely that McGahn will be forced to testify before the November election, if ever. The House Judiciary Committee, led by Democratic Chairman Jerry Nadler of New York, had been trying to obtain testimony from McGahn since early 2019 on matters relating to special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, but the White House blocked him from testifying under the cover of "absolute immunity" from congressional subpoenas.
More here:
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/...-democrats-bid-to-enforce-don-mcgahn-subpoena
