The Press Gets Utterly Snookered on the White House Rebranding of the Same Old Unrelenting Obstructi
The Press Gets Utterly Snookered on the White House Rebranding of the Same Old Unrelenting Obstruction of Congressional Prerogatives
https://www.emptywheel.net/2019/10/09/the-press-gets-utterly-snookered-on-the-white-house-rebranding-of-the-same-old-unrelenting-obstruction-of-congressional-oversight/
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None Ive seen have described the letter as what it is: an attempt to rebrand the same old outright obstruction that the White House has pursued since January.
The tell for those teams of well-compensated journalists treating this as a factual document might have been the addressees. While the letter got sent to Adam Schiff, Eliot Engel, and Elijah Cummings, it did not get sent to Jerry Nadler, who has been pursuing an impeachment inquiry of sorts since the Mueller Report came out. The White House knows Nadler is also part of the impeachment inquiry, because even as the White House was finalizing the letter, Trumps DOJ was in DC Chief Judge Beryl Howells courtroom fighting a House Judiciary request for materials for the impeachment inquiry. In the hearing, DOJ literally argued that the Supreme Courts 8-0 US v. Nixon was wrongly decided.
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The Trump White House obstructed normal Congressional oversight by absolutely refusing to cooperate.
The Trump White House obstructed an impeachment inquiry focused on requests and voluntary participation.
The Trump White House obstructed an impeachment inquiry where subpoenas were filed.
The Trump White House obstructed an impeachment inquiry relying on whistleblowers who arent parties to the White House omertà.
The Trump White House obstructed what numerous judges have made clear are reasonable requests from a co-equal branch of government.
Nothing in the White Houses conduct changed yesterday. Not a single thing. And any journalist who treats this as a new development should trade in her notebooks or maybe move to covering football where such reporting is appropriate.
It is, however, a rebranding of the same old unrelenting obstruction, an effort to relaunch the same policy of unremitting obstruction under an even more intransigent and extreme marketing pitch.
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