Why should any former WH official abide by what Trump allows or does not allow?

[sarabelle]

Neither Trump nor Barr abide by laws, traditions, requirements. Mueller should resign and then testify, and any other of the former Trump administration who wants to testify before Congress should do so.

Trump and Barr have set the stage for ignoring orders, laws and practices.

[SHRED]

1. Where are the patriots?

[dawg day]

2. If they are subpoena'ed, they should testify

I can't believe Don McGahn would risk a contempt charge for Trump.

Who knows though. Trump's got some weird thrall on his peons. But maybe it fades once they quit.

[SunSeeker]

4. No one has been jailed for contempt. That needs to change. nt

[Midnight Writer]

6. But who will do the jailing? Trump controls the Executive Branch. What if he blocks enforcement?

[SunSeeker]

8. Should we not even try? If it turns out Congress can't enforce subpoenas, we need to know now.

Because if that is the case, Trump has officially become dictator and we must take to the barricades.

[uponit7771]

13. +1

[pnwmom]

9. The House has the ability to send people to jail for contempt.

I don't know how the House could arrest Barr, though, because he has armed bodyguards. If the House charges Barr with contempt the case will go to the Supreme Court.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/house-dems-ratchet-threats-include-fines-possible-jail-noncompliant-officials-n1000336


Jailing a witness held in contempt of Congress would be a drastic step that hasn’t been used in more than 80 years. While a constitutional showdown between Congress and the administration is not new, it has evolved over the centuries.

The Supreme Court now sits where Congress’ jail used to be. While members talk about fines, there is no record of a Congress actually fining those in contempt, moving it into uncharted territory.

Connolly said that a lack of congressional jail space doesn’t impede their ability to imprison.

“As you know, we have jurisdiction over the District of Columbia, and they have a beautiful jail with plenty of room that I think that would be just perfect for these people to contemplate their actions and judgment,” Connolly said.

[SunSeeker]

14. Barr's body guards are federal employees who have sworn to uphold the Constitution.

They must comply with federal law and obey lawful orders of the House Sargeant-at-Arms. If the House Sergeant-at-Arms comes to arrest Barr, any federal body guards who try to physically block him or impede his actions are committing a crime. If they procede to block the arrest, then they are no longer federal officers but illegal private mercenaries.

Like I said, if it will come to that, we need to know now. Because if that is the case, we have devolved into an autocracy and we need to take to the barricades.

[pnwmom]

15. As I understand it, they are employees of the Executive Branch, which will likely claim

that it has jurisdiction over William Barr. If the House can't even get papers out of Barr's office, it's hard for me to imagine it would be able to get Barr himself -- without the intervention of the courts.

[SunSeeker]

16. They are still federal employees, even if they work for the Executive Branch.

The reason we can't get papers out of the White House is that nobody's been held in contempt.

[UniteFightBack]

3. I agree...this is the time to come forward. You can trust the Democrats. nt

[Vestigial_Sister]

5. Mueller doesn't...

need to resign and screw up his remaining years. He's 74 years old, just retire, keep all your benefits, and go out with a very LARGE BANG by testifying against all these assholes. History would look kindly upon him.

[pnwmom]

7. I wonder if he's scaring them with the prospect of lawsuits because of

employment agreements he made them sign. He would lose any lawsuit like that ultimately, but it's expensive to fight a lawsuit in court, even if you're going to win in the long run.

[Grasswire2]

10. He cannot hold taxpayer-paid employees to any NDAs.

They work for us, not for him.

[pnwmom]

12. Anyone can sue anyone for anything. And then you're stuck defending a lawsuit

Even if you know you'll win (like we did when a crazy person sued us) it is still a pain and could be costly.

[marlakay]

11. Really why should any of us?

It’s obvious our leader doesn’t believe in the rule of law, so why should we?