Dems prepare to force Trump to reveal private talks with Putin

[MelissaB]

Dems prepare to force Trump to reveal private talks with Putin

Key chairmen met with the House general counsel in a bid to put any subpoena fight on firm legal ground.

House Democrats are taking their first real steps to force President Donald Trump to divulge information about his private conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, setting up an extraordinary clash with the White House over Congress’ oversight authority.

Rep. Adam Schiff, the Intelligence Committee chairman, and Rep. Eliot Engel, the Foreign Affairs Committee chairman, told POLITICO they are actively consulting with House General Counsel Douglas Letter about the best way to legally compel the Trump administration to turn over documents or other information related to the president’s one-on-one discussions with the Russian leader.

“I had a meeting with the general counsel to discuss this and determine the best way to find out what took place in those private meetings — whether it’s by seeking the interpreter’s testimony, the interpreter’s notes, or other means,” Schiff (D-Calif.) said in a brief interview.

... snip

In particular, Democrats say they want to find out what Trump and Putin discussed during their private meeting in Helsinki last July, where Trump put himself at odds with the U.S. intelligence community and declared — while standing next to the Russian president — that the Kremlin did not interfere in the 2016 elections.

More: https://www.politico.com/story/2019/02/16/dems-trump-putin-private-talks-1173275

[spanone]

1. Thank You Mr. Schiff....trump is supposed to work FOR the united states...

[Brawndo]

2. I hope they can pull that off

but didn't tRump confiscate the interpreter's notes after the closed-door meeting with putin? Those notes are probably ashes now. Compelling the testimony of the interpreter seems the only way to find out what was discussed.

[beachbum bob]

3. executive priviledge...no way around it

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. Executive privilege is qualified, not absolute:

The fact that the Helsinki meeting notes may be covered by executive privilege is not the end of the inquiry. One of the main takeaways of United States v. Nixon is that executive privilege is qualified rather than absolute. (Even the absolutist language of the state secrets doctrine articulated in United States v. Reynolds of that variant of executive privilege has been treated by some lower courts as qualified). More recently, the congressional subpoena litigation over Operation Fast and Furious, Oversight Committee v. Holder/Lynch, reinforced the qualified nature of the privileges. Those confidentiality interests the Executive seeks to shield from disclosure must be weighed against the acuteness of congressional need. And that balancing is done in a political context—the more suspicious the activity the less likely courts, commentators, and the public will be to sustain the Executive’s position. Here, President Trump’s aberrant behavior on Russia – unusual campaign contacts, Putin praise, NATO alliance skepticism, desire to shield meetings with Putin from public disclosure and keep other U.S. participants out – significantly strengthen Congress’s hand.

https://www.justsecurity.org/62585/executive-privilege-block-congress-access-trump-putin-helsinki-meeting-notes/

[beachbum bob]

5. the current supreme court is NOT going to side with democrats on this unless other proof

comes forward that trump and putin has an unholy alliance. AND GOP finally gets it.

So far that has not been the case at all.

[triron]

6. Nope.

[triron]

7. These private talks may very well expose treasonous discussion.

[triron]

8. knr