Posted on 06/14/2017 3:30:56 AM PDT by EyesOfTX
Some observations from AG Jeff Sessions’ testimony before the Senate Intelligence (pardon the oxymoron) Committee on Tuesday:
- Sessions’ tone was perfect, his righteous indignation completely appropriate under the circumstances, his defense of his honor compelling and believable. All in all, a great decision by him to insist on public testimony when the committee Democrats wanted to question him out of the public eye. Given their own performances, which ranged from disingenuous (Mark Warner), to imperiously strident (Kamala Harris), to buffoonish (Ron Wyden), it’s easy to see why they wanted to do this one in private. Too bad. - If California Sen. Kamala Harris is, as many claim, the Democrat Party’s “rising star”, then the Democrats have no future. She was out of her league, and transparently dishonest. But hey, Democrats love voting for transparently dishonest candidates, which explains why she’s a Senator now. - A social media scandal broke out when Sen. Harris was shut down by the Chair because her time had run out as she was repeatedly interrupting AG Sessions in order to prevent him to give a full answer to a stupid question. Fake journalists and leftist trolls tisk-tisked all over Twitter about how Republicans just love to shut down women. Trouble with that was that it was actually ranking Democrat Mark Warner who shut Ms. Harris down, as Chairman Richard Burr had temporarily left the room. D’oh!
(Excerpt) Read more at dbdailyupdate.com ...
Rats scurrying to their own making of their own disaster
the committee Democrats wanted to question him out of the public eye.That's false.
Wyden calls for Sessions to testify in open hearing | TheHill | 06/11/17
"I urge that the Committee hold a hearing with the Attorney General in the open so that the American people can hear for themselves what he has to say with regard to connections to the Russians and the President's abuse of power," Wyden wrote.
TRUMP’S FIRST YEAR
WILL HAVE ACCOMPLISHED MORE
THAN ANY OTHER PRESIDENT
IN FOUR.
"Executive privilege is constitutionally based. ...
The existence of such a privilege, however, is a necessary corollary of the executive function
vested in the President by Article II of the Constitution.
It has been asserted by numerous Presidents from the earliest days of our Nation,
and it was explicitly recognized by the Supreme Court...".
“Congressional investigation is usually sweeping; its issues are seldom narrowly defined,
and the inquiry is not restricted by the rules of evidence.
.... when Congress is investigating, it is by its own account often
in an adversarial position to the executive branch and initiating action
to override judgments made by the executive branch.
This increases the likelihood that candid advice from executive branch
advisers will be taken out of context or misconstrued.
For all these reasons,the constitutional privilege that protects executive branch
deliberations against judicial subpoenas must also apply,
perhaps even with greater force, to Congress’ demands for information.
The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
has explicitly held that the privilege protects presidential communications
against congressional demands. During the Watergate investigation,
the Court of Appeals rejected a Senate committee’s efforts
to obtain tape recordings of conversations in President Nixon’s offices.
The court held that the tapes were constitutionally privileged..”
Funny thing, in light of that, he is frustrated at the slow rate of making progress.
It is obvious to anyone this is a fishing expedition in a mud puddle. Guess it beats having to have any solutions to the problems you caused.
The game is grandstand for the T.v. cameras. The Senators are acting, putting on a show on television for political reasons. Some of those Democrats look nervous lacking natural body language. Their questioning of the A.G.
was often rude, condescending, pompous, lacking respect as they interrupted him before allowing time for his candid answer.
It would be interesting to see the average number of minutes allowed by Dem Senators for answers from Obama administration hearing subjects vs. Republican. IIRC Dems were allowed to give what almost amounted to speeches as answers.
I see this as analogous in many ways to the Valerie Plame stupidity, where a man went to jail (Scooter Libby) over the difference of remembered date, but it was the lone scalp for something that everyone, EVERYONE including the prosecutor knew, that the scumbag Richard Armitage was the one did what wasn’t even a crime.
That whole thing should never have even been investigated, as this should not have been.
It is a massive fishing expedition to get some kind of scalp that liberals will use as the first brick in a foundation of lies, that they build an edifice of faulty liberalism muck on.
It is our fault that we allow them to even use a faulty premise as their first brick.
Caught part of the hearing, was hard to watch them tear a good man apart and not let him even half answer their asinine questions that were prescriptive, McNasty was his usual NASTY SELFISHNESS SHOW BOATING SELF.
This seems to be the standard take on Sessions’ testimony among Republicans. Like this author, Newt Gingrich this morning on Fox & Friends also praised Sessions’ “tone.” He said Republicans should study Sessions’ “angry, direct” testimony that hit just the right “emotional tone.” He called it a study in not being passive. Ken Starr used the words used the words “righteous indignation” too, when praising Sessions’ testimony in an interview with Martha McCallum.
On Twitter Bill O’Reilly, Donald Trump, Jr., and Ann Coulter (and a ton of lesser lights in the conservative world) praised Sessions. Coulter in particular like this author noted how badly the Dem Senators came off. Last night Greg Gutfeld said on the Five that Sessions “kicked [Sen. Wyden’s] ass.” Krauthammer (not always a friend to the Trump administration) noted that Sessions “exposed the absurdity of this whole exercise.”
I’ve seen a lot of praise too online for Sen. Cotton for making the Dems’ Russian conspiracy theory look ridiculous (and Fox surprisingly has even been replaying some of their interaction). The Dems will still forge ahead on their new “obstruction” accusations, but it looks like the Russian collusion nonsense is on its last legs. Sessions forcefully denied collusion and made the Dems look absurd for making a big deal out of his brief interactions with Russians as a Senator and member of the Foreign Relations Committee.
I think Trump is as frustrated as he is when trying to deal with NYC and they stonewall him just because he's Trump and he wants to build a building in the middle of Manhattan.
The democrats and the democrat media complex are self-disintegrating before our eyes...
Yes, I also detected the attacking senators looked like rookies and petty. They could not ruffle the Southern gentleman who had total command of the law.
No such thing as a good Democrat....
Good one, Dick!
They are obviously all having a meeting with the ambassador. Lots of colluding going on there... LOL.
Trump, on Fox and Friends last week, said she was surprised by the ferocity and level of viciousness of the critics. Sessions is still calling these Democrats his "colleagues," no doubt a calculated attempt to appear to still be one of them after 35 years of service.
Democrat Senators were having none of it, turning on Sessions like he was a common criminal, especially the new Senators who didn't serve with him and were raised in a generation with no sense of decorum.
Sessions is no longer of any use to his former "friends across the aisle," and they are showing him that to his face now, instead of laughing behind his back in the cloak room.
-PJ
Anyone who has been around the block a few times knows these hearings are worthless.
This Senate hearing is all kabuki theater.
The senators do their best to grandstand for the cameras and to their base constituents.
The witnesses do their best to tell only as much as required but not enough to reveal any new or damaging information.
In the meantime, the Senate can't get their act together to pass a replacement healthcare bill.
This hearing is Exhibit A in why these partisans hearings are a waste of time.
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