The House of Representatives refuted a Justice Department filing in the Judiciary Committee’s bid to force former White House counsel Don McGahn to testify by arguing that they are prepared to impeach President Trump again.
The Justice Department appealed an earlier decision requiring McGahn to comply with a Judiciary Committee subpoena, arguing that the House’s decision to impeach Trump means there is no longer an urgency to force McGahn’s testimony.
“The reasons for refraining are even more compelling now that what the Committee asserted — whether rightly or wrongly — as the primary justification for its decision to sue no longer exists,” the DOJ said in a court filing.
“If this Court now were to resolve the merits question in this case, it would appear to be weighing in on a contested issue in any impeachment trial,” the DOJ lawyers argued. “The now very real possibility of this Court appearing to weigh in on an article of impeachment at a time when political tensions are at their highest levels — before, during, or after a Senate trial regarding the removal of a President — puts in stark relief why this sort of interbranch dispute is not one that has ‘traditionally thought to be capable of resolution through the judicial process.’”
“This Court should decline the Committee’s request that it enter the fray and instead should dismiss this fraught suit between the political branches for lack of jurisdiction,” the filing added.
Dems ready to impeach again:
House Counsel Douglas Letter said in a response that the House is ready to impeach Trump again if need be.
“If McGahn’s testimony produces new evidence supporting the conclusion that President Trump committed impeachable offenses that are not covered by the Articles approved by the House, the Committee will proceed accordingly — including, if necessary, by considering whether to recommend new articles of impeachment,” Letter said in the filing.
Letter added that McGahn’s testimony may also be crucial in the upcoming Senate trial.
“McGahn’s testimony is critical both to a Senate trial and to the Committee’s ongoing impeachment investigations to determine whether additional Presidential misconduct warrants further action by the Committee," Letter wrote.
DOJ argues impeachment means Mueller case moot:
In a separate case, the DOJ argued that the articles of impeachment rendered another case in which the committee is seeking the grand jury materials in Bob Mueller’s investigation moot.
“Neither article of impeachment adopted by the House, however, alleges high crimes or misdemeanors stemming from the events described in the Mueller Report. Accordingly, nothing appears to remain of the Committee’s alleged need for the grand-jury materials in the Mueller Report,” the DOJ argued in the second case.
Democrats responded in their filing by arguing that the grand jury material "bears on the current Articles of Impeachment and could accordingly be used in a Senate trial on those Articles, and because the Committee is continuing to conduct its inquiry into whether the President committed other impeachable offenses."
