"Joy and pleasure are as real as pain and sorrow and one must learn what they have to teach. . . ." -- Sean Russell, from Gatherer of Clouds

"If you're not having fun, you're not doing it right." -- Helyn D. Goldenberg

"I love you and I'm not afraid." -- Evanescence, "My Last Breath"

“If I hear ‘not allowed’ much oftener,” said Sam, “I’m going to get angry.” -- J.R.R. Tolkien, from Lord of the Rings

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Wham! One For Our Side

It looks like the Senate hasn't managed to fill enough judgeships with Trump cultists.

The Chief Judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Friday afternoon ordered the Department of Justice to hand over the unredacted Mueller report and underlying materials requested by the House Judiciary Committee months ago. The 75-page ruling by Judge Beryl Howell (photo) is a being called a “stunning rebuke” to the DOJ that is leaving some experts surprised and even somewhat shocked.

The ruling also destroys the fallacious argument made by President Trump and Republicans that the House impeachment inquiry is not an actual impeachment. Judge Howell says it absolutely is. Republicans, including administration officials, have refused to respond to requests by the House for documents, and even subpoenas commanding testimony, claiming because the full House did not vote on holding the impeachment inquiry it is, as some on the right claim falsely, a “witch hunt” that can be ignored.

They are wrong.

Judge Howell has successfully accomplished several things. She delivers effective explanations deriding the DOJ’s arguments, she effectively certifies the House’s impeachment inquiry, and she shows just how amateur – or inept – the Barr DOJ has become.

Twitter, or course, is all over this, and most of the commenters include quotes from the decision. Some of them are really on the nose. Here's one example, from Marcy Wheeler:



It's worth reading the whole post for some of the comments on Twitter.

Barr, of course, will appeal to Trump's tame Supreme Court. It that fails, I wouldn't be a bit surprised if the regime declares that it is not bound by court decisions. That's where we're headed.


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