tank you baker
Trump attorney Jay Sekulow accuses Democrats of playing politics, 'The president has not asked for Nancy Pelosi's tax returns'
As the White House faces pressure from congressional Democrats on several fronts, President Donald Trump’s personal attorney Jay Sekulow fired back at the House Ways and Means Committee’s bid for the president’s tax returns on Sunday, arguing the request does not serve a "legitimate legislative purpose."
"This idea that you can use the IRS as a political weapon … is incorrect both as a matter of statutory law and constitutionally," Sekulow said in an exclusive interview on "This Week" Sunday morning. "It's not the law for the United States. We don't have a requirement that presidents do that."
Last week, the Democrat-controlled panel formally requested Trump’s business and personal tax information dating back to 2013 from the IRS. In making his request, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., cited Section 6103(f) of the federal tax code, an obscure, nearly hundred-year-old provision, which says that the Treasury Secretary "shall furnish such committee with any return or return information specified in such request."
The very purpose of the tax code provision Neal wants to exercise was written with the express intention of executive branch oversight, in the wake of the 1920s Teapot Dome scandal, said Steve Rosenthal, a senior fellow in the nonpartisan Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center and a tax lawyer with 25 years' experience.
"If you look to the legislative context for why this statute exists, and then why Neal is asking, there is not any credible argument to refute the request," Rosenthal told ABC News.
In a letter to Treasury Department’s general counsel on Friday, a new lawyer for Trump, William Consovoy, called the move by Democrats "a gross abuse of power" and encouraged the IRS to "refrain from divulging the requested information."
"If it has to be litigated, it will be litigated," Sekulow told ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos on Sunday. "As the president’s counsel, we have the right to protect his interests as a private citizen and as president."
Asked about Democrats’ request, Trump said last week that he is "not inclined" to release any of his tax information willingly, citing an ongoing audit.
Sekulow also reiterated the president’s position on the much-anticipated release of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report, which Attorney General William Barr has said could come out "by mid-April, if not sooner."
"The president has said he turns this over to the attorney general," Sekulow said Sunday. "The attorney general, pursuant to the regulations, George, makes the determination as to what’s released, how it’s released."
Democrats are clamoring for more information about the special counsel’s nearly 400-page report since Barr released his four-page letter to Congress outlining the document’s "principal findings."
On Wednesday, Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee voted to authorize subpoenas for the full report, but the chairman of that panel, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., has said the committee would "work with the attorney general" before issuing any subpoenas.
"I find it ironic that people are talking about subpoenas already for the documents when we’re probably less than a week away – or about a week away – from getting them," Sekulow said Sunday.
But a report in the New York Times suggesting "some" of Mueller investigators believe Barr has "failed to adequately portray the findings of their inquiry" breathed new life into debate over Barr’s handling of the report.
The Washington Post later reported that the special counsel’s office had prepared summaries that could be released publicly, reflecting different sections of Mueller's report, which Barr has withheld. One source told the Post that the summaries contained potentially sensitive information that needed to be vetted before release.
Sekulow on Sunday brushed those reports aside, denying that the full report will be more damaging to the president than what Barr indicated in his four-page letter to congress.
"There’s two conclusions that are important to reiterate," Sekulow said. "No obstruction, and no collusion."
In response, the Justice Department issued a statement defending the attorney general’s handling of the matter without directly addressing those news reports.
"Given the extraordinary public interest in the matter, the Attorney General [previously] decided to release the report's bottom-line findings and his conclusions immediately – without attempting to summarize the report," Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said in a statement.
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-legal-team-member-jay-sekulow-responds-democrats/story?id=62221530
After staring at the side-by-side photos, they do look a little different. Seems like same person, maybe had work done in that year?
She loves those GREEN earrings though, doesn't she….
hmmm
I have learned how to bake, and practiced quite a bit. Been nervous to take over live.
I may practice a bit more then take a dive into the deep end.
In his latest newsletter, @travis_view discusses QAnon going to war with Seb Gorka and a pro-Trump PAC, QAnon followers showing up in force at Trump's Grand Rapids rally, and the moderator of QAnon's 8chan board suddenly stepping down.
https://twitter.com/TheContemptor/status/1114906548176936961
https://contemptor.com/2019/04/07/all-for-a-larp-qanon-goes-to-war/
So this Maga Coalition is saying "game over".
If they believed that, why are they still here?
I thought I saw a post that it is May 7, not Apr 7. But not 100% on that.
Ocasio-Cortez links threats against Omar to Pirro's comments about hijab
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) late Saturday linked Fox News host Jeanine Pirro's remarks about Rep. Ilhan Omar's hijab to threats against the Minnesota Democrat.
"Understand when Jeanine Pirro goes on Fox + rallies people to think hijabs are threatening, it leads to this. Folks who imply we’re 'bad' for politics, the party, the country, etc. have no idea the threats we deal w/ because of that kind of language. Talk policy, not personal," Ocasio-Cortez said.
Ocasio-Cortez was responding to the arrest of a man in New York who is accused of making death threats against Omar.
Prosecutors have said Patrick Carlineo's arrest stems from a phone call he made last month to Omar’s office.
"Do you work for the Muslim Brotherhood? Why are you working for her? She's a f—ing terrorist. I’ll put a bullet in her f—ing skull," Carlineo allegedly said during the call.
Pirro was kept off air for two weeks last month after she suggested that Omar's religious beliefs were at odds with the U.S. Constitution.
"Omar wears a hijab, which, according to the Quran 33:59, tells women to cover so they won’t get molested." Pirro said on her show, "Justice with Jeanine."
"Is her adherence to this Islamic doctrine indicative of her adherence to Sharia law, which in itself is antithetical to the United States Constitution?" Pirro added.
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/437751-ocasio-cortez-links-threats-on-omar-to-pirros-comments-on-her-hijab