Whistle-Blower’s Complaint Is Said to Involve Multiple Acts by Trump

[Dill]

(09-26-2019, 04:53 PM)bfine32 Wrote: It'll be most likely similar today. House-public Senate-private and "framework of existing law regulating such sensitive matters" will be the least of their motivations.

All hearings and testimony will have to respect legal precedent, the separation of powers, and the interests of national security.

The intel agencies do not want these hearings to provide clues as to how they sort and store information, which could be gleaned from the slightest of hints by competent intel agents in other countries.  For the intel community and future presidents, it is already a hair-pulling matter that the phone transcript was released. Now the whistleblower document itself fleshes out a vetting/storage process previously behind closed doors.

Then there are constitutional questions over presidential prerogatives. The Exec cannot function without control over its "message" and other deliberative processes. Yet we have a president recklessly disregarding his duty and a Congress tasked with oversight, which may be avoiding its duty if it allows the scofflaw to continue hijacking US foreign policy in the service of conspiracy theories.

Most members of Congress will recognize and respect the potential consequences of subpoenas and witnesses; any damage resulting, despite cautionary measures, should be laid at the feet of the president, who has forced them to do their duty, however reluctant they have been to do it.