The American Left has been increasingly comfortable in the Democrat Party now for decades, becoming more so after Barack Obama the Marxist took it over when he was elected in 2008.
And with increasing Leftism comes increasing authoritarianism — because all of today’s modern Left-wing political ideologies use violence, intimidation, and authoritarianism in order to steal power and keep it.
With that in mind, it should come as no surprise that a Left-wing nut job law school professor at Cornell University would recommend that Democrats in Congress toss out the Constitution and centuries of governing precedence to actually arrest and jail associates of President Donald Trump.
Why? Because…Trump Derangement Syndrome. It’s a real thing.
As Breitbart News reported, Prof. Josh Chafetz wrote in The New York Times (where else?) that in order to advance Democrats’ impeachment push (which is based on no evidence, no crimes, and no wrongdoing — just a hyper-politicized and lying media) -- Trump officials ought to not simply be questioned but arrested and, yes, jailed.
Chafetz’s bizarre column came after White House Counsel Pat Cipollone sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) which said the administration will not cooperate with Democrats’ so-called impeachment probe because it is “illigitimate,” “unconstitutional,” and nothing more than an attempt to “overturn the results” of the 2016 president election.
Indeed, Cipollone is correct. Thus far, Pelosi has only announced that an impeachment inquiry ‘has begun.’ But that’s a lie, technically speaking: The House Judiciary Committee has not yet voted out a resolution to begin a formal impeachment inquiry, and a majority of the House has not concurred. There have been no votes so there can’t be a legitimate impeachment probe.
But Mr. Law Professor Chafetz sees it differently. If Trump officials and members of POTUS’ administration won’t comply with a bogus inquiry, then he says House Democrats should go full tyrant and order the House Sergeant-at-Arms to go arrest them and place them in a “makeshift” jail on Capitol Hill. (Related: Rep. Gohmert: “Somebody HAS to go to jail” over FISA abuse targeting Trump campaign.)
Nice try, Dems; Congress can’t ‘jail’ Trump officials
“The House should instead put back on the table the option of using its sergeant-at-arms to arrest contemnors — as the person in violation of the order is called — especially when an individual, like Rudy Giuliani, is not an executive branch official,” Chafetz writes. “Neither house of Congress has arrested anyone since 1935, but it was not uncommon before that point (and was blessed by the Supreme Court in 1927).”
Giuliani may not be an official of the Executive Branch — but he’s Trump’s personal lawyer. So this idiot is advocating that the president’s legal counsel be jailed for protecting his client.
There’s more:
Facilities in the Capitol or one of the House office buildings can be made into a makeshift holding cell if necessary. Of course, arrestees will ask the courts to set them free, but the case should be relatively open-and-shut against them: They will have committed a contempt in refusing to turn over subpoenaed materials, and the House has the power to hold contemnors.
Talk about a strategy that Hitler, Mao, and Stalin would love.
Two things: First of all, employing legal tools against serving members of government cuts both ways. For example, members of Congress are generally exempt from most legal actions while Congress is in session, but not all legal actions. The Supreme Court has concluded that sitting lawmakers (yes, even Democrats) can be held liable for “Treason, Felony, and Breach of the Peace,” as well as be made to testify in criminal and civil actions.
And while there is historical precedent for Congress to ‘jail’ people, that’s not what happens these days, as Time notes:
The full House or Senate can approve a contempt citation by a majority vote, and then must hand the matter to the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, “whose duty it shall be to bring the matter before the grand jury for its action,” according to the law.
President Trump is head of the Executive Branch. The Justice Department falls under the Executive Branch. Constitutionally, there isn’t a legitimate federal court that would require the Executive Branch to investigate and punish itself.
Oh, and by the way, a federal court wouldn’t uphold a congressional contempt charge against Democratic AG Eric Holder in 2014.
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