Appeals court hears arguments over McGahn testimony and press on impeachment state of play
CNN Digital Expansion 2018 Katelyn Polantz
By Katelyn Polantz, CNN
Updated 12:19 PM ET, Fri January 3, 2020
Washington (CNN)Federal appeals court judges on Friday asked multiple questions about the state of play in impeachment proceedings, pushing Trump administration attorneys on its refusal to comply with congressional subpoenas and how former White House counsel Don McGahn's testimony about President Donald Trump during the Russia investigation matters now during impeachment.
The almost 90 minutes in the US Court of Appeals courtroom in Washington, DC, covered a dense range of legal questions, including whether courts can resolve political disputes between Congress and the executive branch.
Hashim Mooppan from the Justice Department, which is defending McGahn, warned the appeals court to stay out of the House-White House fight, at risk of politicizing the court. "You can be assured the opinion this court enters will be waived on the floor of the Senate by one side or another," he told the three appellate judges.
"Has there ever been an instance of such a broad scale defiance? "Judge Thomas Griffith asked, about the Trump administration's wide assertion that its top officials would comply with congressional subpoenas. "Has that ever happened before? No, it hasn't."
As Mooppan argued that the courts shouldn't be involved, Judge Judith Rogers, leaning far back in her chair, cut in, "Takes two!"
At another point, Griffith asked if the House really needed McGahn for its current impeachment proceeding, which focuses on the President's solicitations of Ukraine after McGahn left the West Wing. "You're here because of impeachment," he said.
Griffith asked the House lawyer if additional articles of impeachment against Trump were coming, like regarding obstruction of justice, to which McGahn could testify.
"You have authority to say this from the Speaker of the House?" the judge asked.
Megan Barbero, representing the House Judiciary Committee, dodged giving a direct answer. Instead, she said Congress could use McGahn's testimony to inform the current impeachment trial, especially regarding Trump's obstruction of Congress.
The DC Circuit Court of Appeals is considering whether the House should get access to confidential documents from the Mueller investigation to consider Trump's reception of foreign political help, and if the White House should be able to block top advisers from complying with congressional subpoenas.
more:
http://www.cnn.com/2020/01/03/politics/court-of-appeals-separation-of-powers-don-mcgahn/index.html
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