Thursday, May 9, 2019
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1/ Mick Mulvaney criticized Republicans for not informing him that Trump Jr. would be subpoenaed by the Senate Intelligence Committee as part of its ongoing probe into Russian interference in the 2016 campaign. The acting White House chief of staff called it "bad form" to "not at least get a heads-up" from the Republican-led committee. Senator Richard Blumenthal said that "If [Trump Jr.] fails to comply with a lawful subpoena, he has no privilege, prison is the only answer." Trump Jr. is expected to assert his Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination in order to resist testifying about his contacts with Russia. (Washington Post / Politico / CNN / The Hill / Reuters)
2/ House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff issued a subpoena to the Justice Department for "counterintelligence and foreign intelligence" from Robert Mueller's investigation. Schiff said his committee had "no choice" but to serve the subpoena after the Justice Department "repeatedly failed to respond, refused to schedule any testimony, and provided no documents responsive to our legitimate and duly authorized oversight activities." Schiff gave Attorney General William Barr a deadline of May 15 to hand over the evidence. (Politico / CNN)
3/ House Speaker Nancy Pelosi agreed with Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler that the U.S. is in a "constitutional crisis" over the Trump administration's refusal to comply with congressional oversight, telling reporters: "The administration has decided they are not going to honor their oath of office." The House Judiciary Committee voted yesterday to recommend the House hold Barr in contempt of Congress for refusing to turn over an unredacted version of Mueller's report. Pelosi said she would bring the contempt citation to the floor for a vote of the full House "when we are ready." (