WTF Just Happened Today

Wednesday, April 24, 2019

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1/ Trump: "We're fighting all the subpoenas" by House Democrats. "Subpoenas are ridiculous," Trump said, claiming "I have been the most transparent president and administration in the history of our country by far." House Democratic leaders have issued dozens of requests for information or cooperation from Trump, his administration and his associates. Trump has blocked his administration from cooperating with requests for his tax returns, information about White House security clearances, the 2020 census, and more. (CNBC / Politico / NBC News / Wall Street Journal)

2/ Trump will oppose requests for current and former White House aides to testify to Congress, saying there is "no reason to go any further, and especially in Congress where it's very partisan – obviously very partisan." White House lawyers plan to assert executive privilege over testimony by Trump administration witnesses called by the House to try and block their congressional testimony. Trump confusingly tweeted "I didn't call [the reporter at] the Washington Post, he called me (Returned his call)!" (Washington Post)

• Trump's recent tweets and public statements are potentially exposing him to new charges of witness intimidation, obstruction of justice and impeding a congressional investigation, according to Democrats and legal experts. (Politico)

3/ The White House is trying to block a subpoena by the House Judiciary Committee to former White House counsel Don McGahn for testimony about the Mueller report. McGahn was mentioned more than 150 times in Mueller's report, telling investigators about how Trump pressured him to have Mueller fired and then urged McGahn to publicly deny the episode. The subpoena set a May 7th deadline for documents and a May 21st deadline for McGahn to testify before the committee. Jerry Nadler called the White House's effort to block the subpoena "one more act of obstruction by an administration desperate to prevent the public from talking about the president's behavior." Trump has reportedly told advisers that McGahn was disloyal to him, in part because of McGahn's notes from meetings were cited in Mueller's report. (Washington Post / Wall Street Journal / New York Times)

4/ The Justice Department refused to comply with a congressional subpoena for a Trump administration official to testify about the addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 Census. The House Oversight and Reform Committee is investigating the addition of the citizenship question despite evidence that it could lead to millions of people being undercounted. John Gore's refusal to appear before the committ...

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