They Hate This Guy': Matt Whitaker Braces for Showdown With Dems

[DonViejo]

‘We don’t know what we’re up against with the House Judiciary Committee,’ one Justice Department source told The Daily Beast. ‘We have no idea.’

Betsy Woodruff
02.07.19 7:53 AM ET

The Justice Department is bracing for impact. Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker is set to testify before Congress on Friday, and in the Department’s sprawling Pennsylvania Avenue headquarters, dozens of officials have been working to get him ready. The hearing will be the first blockbuster showdown between the Trump administration and oversight-antsy Hill Democrats who just recently secured the power to force the president’s allies to testify.

A person familiar with Whitaker’s preparation told The Daily Beast he is gearing up for an intense few hours. “They hate this guy so much,” the source said.

Whitaker has gone through multiple practice committee hearings––known as moots––where Justice Department officials pepper him with questions that committee Democrats may lob, according to multiple DOJ officials involved in his preparation. They have tried to prepare him for lengthy statements, harsh tones, and leading questions. Dozens of department officials have helped him prepare, those officials told The Daily Beast, working through the government shutdown to brief him and get him ready. And they’re gearing up for questions about Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe, according to one source familiar with Whitaker’s preparation, including whether he had input on the investigation’s resources. On top of that, they’re braced for legal sparring if Democrats try to force Whitaker to testify about his conversations with the president.

“We don’t know what we’re up against with the House Judiciary Committee,” that source said. “We have no idea.”

more
https://www.thedailybeast.com/they-hate-this-guy-matt-whitaker-braces-for-showdown-with-dems

[Iliyah]

1. Geez, Republicans always bring up hatred don't they.

They have no other recourse but to use that word in their defense. They never look in the mirror at themselves do they.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

2. Good. Keep Whitaker off guard.......

Nit giving out hints as to what will be asked will assure the truth be told.

[cyclonefence]

3. I hope they ask him about the "big dick" toilets

he was hawking.

[Power 2 the People]

4. Maybe he'll just claim "executive privilege" or "refuse to answer hypotheticals" like all Repukes

do when brought before congress. Up to this point they've been allowed to get away with it. Hopefully that changes on Friday.