After more than two years and tens of millions of taxpayer dollars spent, former special counsel Robert Mueller concluded that no Americans, least of all any associated with President Donald Trump, conspired or coordinated with Russian interference in the 2016 election.
In other words, no collusion.
Similarly, Mueller’s thorough investigation also failed to uncover any convincing evidence that Trump had sought to obstruct justice — in other words, no obstruction — but many House Democrats seem incapable of accepting Mueller’s conclusions.
As such, Politico reported Tuesday that the House Judiciary Committee led by Democratic chairman Jerrold Nadler is set to issue new subpoenas against a dozen key “witnesses” in Mueller’s investigation to try to keep the collusion/obstruction narrative continuing in perpetuity.
Some key witnesses who may soon be subpoenaed included Trump’s son-in-law and adviser, Jared Kushner, former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and former Trump campaign chairman Corey Lewandowski, among others.
In the minds of Nadler and his fellow House Democrats, those witnesses may be able to provide invaluable information and insight into Trump’s alleged attempts to prematurely end or otherwise obstruct Mueller’s probe into the 2016 election.
Aside from the obstruction angle, Nadler’s committee also intends to dig deeper into allegations of “hush money payments” made by Trump to keep his accusers — specifically former adult film actress Stormy Daniels — quiet about an alleged affair ahead of the 2016 election.
With regard to the hush money — which many Democrats, media pundits and overzealous prosecutors have mischaracterized as potential campaign finance violations — the committee intends to subpoena Dylan Howard and David Pecker, both top executives at American Media, Inc. They are believed to have knowledge of or been involved in a payment of $130,000 to Daniels.
Also facing a potential subpoena is Daniels’ attorney at that time, Keith Davidson, who is said to have taken part in arranging the payoff with Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen, who is now serving time in prison for other unrelated crimes.
Davidson had previously suggested he would be open to cooperating with a “friendly” subpoena that would allow him to comply with document requests on a voluntary basis.
In a statement announcing the subpoenas that will be voted on by the committee Thursday, Nadler said, “As always, I remain open to reaching a reasonable accommodation and will not issue subpoenas if the information we are seeking is voluntarily provided.
“We will get answers one way or the other.”
Of course, Republicans on the committee view this as a waste of time and resources, and yet another attempt to “relitigate” a conclusively closed investigation.
“Mr. Mueller’s team issued more than 2,800 subpoenas before concluding that no Americans conspired with Russia,” Georgia Rep. Doug Collins, ranking Republican on the committee, said in a statement.
“Even if Chairman Nadler still believes subpoenas are conversation starters, it’s hard to imagine this handful of subpoenas will do anything but reinforce the principal conclusions we’ve been able to read about for months,” Collins added.
The Trump White House has stridently resisted the majority of subpoenas issued by Nadler’s committee and others seeking to dig up dirt on the president and prolong the accurately named “witch hunt.”
Undoubtedly, the White House will reject the latest subpoenas as well, since all of these individuals have already been interviewed at length by Mueller, and the committee will have a chance to quiz Mueller on his findings in a hearing scheduled for July 17.
The truth is, House Democrats are unwilling or unable to admit defeat when it comes to the baseless and debunked allegations of Russian collusion and obstruction of justice.
Rather than move on to address the pressing needs of this great nation, Democrats insist on digging deeper in their empty hole.
Nadler’s latest subpoenas are nothing more than the latest gambit in the continuing effort to “Get Trump,” and like all others that came before, this one will come up empty and fruitless.
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