Benjamin Wittes: Mueller Bows Out: What Does Congress Do Now?

[babylonsister]

https://www.lawfareblog.com/mueller-bows-out-what-does-congress-do-now

Mueller Bows Out: What Does Congress Do Now?
By Benjamin Wittes
Wednesday, May 29, 2019, 1:18 PM

snip//

Mueller is not showing up. But he has given Congress a highly-detailed guide—one might even call it a “road map”—to whom it need to hear from and what questions they need to be asked.

Boiling all of this down, what emerges are a few simple guidepost principles for effective post-Mueller congressional oversight:

First, don’t focus on piercing the redactions in the report. Take the deal the Justice Department is offering and check out the almost-wholly-unredacted version on offer.

Second, focus instead on highlighting the presidential conduct described in the unredacted sections. Congress’s specific role right now is in holding live hearings which put flesh on the dry narrative bones of the Mueller report.

Third, focus litigation efforts—as the House is already doing—on obliterating the president’s claims that he gets to second-guess the legitimacy of Congress’s legislative purpose and then on establishing that there is no principle of testimonial immunity for White House aides.

Fourth, defer executive privilege litigation to the extent necessary by agreeing to limit questioning of White House aides to matters specifically covered by the Mueller report. Litigate later, if need be, over additional testimony from these witnesses.

Proceeding in accordance with these principles would give coherence to congressional investigative efforts. It would avoid getting bogged down in the quicksand in which Trump has sought to mire these efforts. And it would help as well to establish answers to some legal questions about Congress’s oversight powers about which lack of clarity currently is empowering Trump’s abuses.

It’s a shame that Mueller is not showing up. But Congress can make do without him.

[Pantagruel]

1. Mueller should still be called to testify

on color at least. Ask him questions in front of a national audience on attitudes of respondees and credibility of witnesses. Have him tell the American people how important it is to eliminate foreign influence and how candidates are supposed to respond to knowledge of sovereign interference.
You can use his knowledge and stature to legitimize the process.