Trump-friendly judges run out the clock on impeachment

[dajoki]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/11/18/trump-friendly-judges-run-out-clock-impeachment/

<<snip>>

It’s moot because Leon, a district court judge in D.C. , made it moot. The suit was filed late last month, but Leon said he wouldn’t hear arguments until Dec. 10 — after the investigative phase of impeachment is due to end — and rule in late December or early January, likely after a House impeachment vote. The House withdrew its subpoena of Kupperman because Leon’s timing made it pointless. Lawmakers instead pinned hopes on a related case involving a subpoena to former Trump counsel Donald McGahn, which another judge on Leon’s court is handling with more urgency.

At this writing, Leon has yet to dismiss the now-meaningless suit. Why? My sources offer two explanations — neither benign. He may be keeping the case active so he’ll be assigned any other impeachment-related cases when filed. Or Leon, who led House GOP investigations of President Bill Clinton before George W. Bush appointed him to the court, recognizes the law does not support Trump’s monarchical view of absolute immunity from congressional inquiry — and therefore the best way to help Trump is to run out the clock on impeachment.

The oft-overturned Leon — he has been reversed in cases involving pay protection for home health-care workers, housing discrimination, the government’s telephone surveillance program and others — isn’t the only one dragging his feet in a way that benefits Trump. Another judge on the D.C. district court, Trevor McFadden, a Trump transition volunteer and Trump DOJ official before Trump appointed him to the court, has been similarly unhurried.

The House Ways & Means committee filed a lawsuit on July 2 requiring Trump to release his tax returns. The law is unequivocal; it says tax officials “shall” provide returns to the committee on request. But McFadden, who previously ruled against the House over Trump’s use of emergency funds for the border wall, still hasn’t heard arguments in the tax matter, 139 days after the suit was filed. Though not dismissing the case, he rejected the House’s request to expedite it.

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[Hermit-The-Prog]

1. this is why we must ditch Moscow Mitch

[lagomorph777]

3. +1

[Merlot]

8. Getting rid of mcconnell won't get rid of the problem

The only way to solve the problem is to win back the senate.

[calimary]

10. THIS.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

11. yes, we need the Senate, but ...

Whether Moscow Mitch is majority leader or minority, he is very adept at using rules and keeping his caucus in line to achieve his agenda -- the destruction of democracy and creation of a system that favors authoritarian and libertarian billionaire donors to GOP.

[lagomorph777]

2. Pig. We have to find a way to clean the corrupt judges out of the judiciary.

For example:
Investigate and impeach as many as possible.
Set up term limits. No more life time appointments at any level up to SCOTUS.
Expand the bench everywhere. This can be justified by case load, but will also help dilute the impact of corrupt judges such as Leon.
Once expanded, make more cases eligible for panels of judges, where we'd have a chance of outvoting the corrupt panel members.

[Glorfindel]

5. +1

"Expand the bench everywhere." Best idea yet!

[Hortensis]

6. Put us in power, state and federal, and judges will HAVE to

clean up their act enough not to be removed. And most will. We really DO already have means of sanctioning to control bad judges, and removing when that fails, as well as means of diluting their effect by other means. It's probable that some of the Repub/Trump appointees are sociopathic and/or criminal personalities who won't control themselves and will have to be removed.
Weaknesses now being used to enable unprecedented malfeasance will be addressed -- by Democratic-controlled legislatures and regulatory bodies.

What's been done in the past isn't a guide to the future. We've always had judges who reflect the major diverse ideological orientations of the people, and that'll continue. America, though, has never had a judiciary packed with today's numbers of unqualified agents of genuinely bad character embedded to pursue hard-right, even extremist, social, religious and economic political agendas. And who too often misuse their power to persecute helpless victims of their personal bigotries and corruption. The problem requires its solution.

[spanone]

4. K&R...

[Mr. Sparkle]

7. The worst form of corruption, imo. They are supposed to be fair and impartial

yet republicans judges act more like cheerleaders for the RNC.

[Mr. Ected]

9. Remember when the GOP's greatest concern was activist judges?

Their hypocrisy is what I hate the most about them.

[lagomorph777]

12. Their concern was that they hadn't installed enough activists of their own.

Just like "class warfare" - They've been waging it for decades; they only hate it when we start fighting back.