Last updated on September 25th, 2023 at 08:48 pm

MSNBC‘s Ari Melber explained that if Trump tries to ignore House Democratic subpoenas, incoming Speaker Nancy Pelosi will sue him and his administration.

Melber said on his MSNBC show, The Beat:

So when January comes Pelosi and her counsel are going to be making some very big decisions about which subpoenas and which demands are worth fighting over. Russia, the Trump Organization, Trump‘s tax returns. And remember all those debates over Pelosi‘s experience? Well, these intricate battles, they’re not always front page nightly news kind of stuff. This is backroom stuff, but she has done it before. And when she did it before, she won.

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In fact, when Pelosi was speaker in 2008 she made history with the first order of the house council who you’ll see on your screen there, to formally sue the Bush administration on behalf of the U.S. House over yes, defying a subpoena. The conflict was something that could play out again with this administration because it involved bush officials refusing to testify, citing executive privilege, which is something, of course, Trump has already instructed the aides to do even when facing a Republican house on Russia. Pelosi combated that move by instructing her house council to sue on behalf of Congress. And the issue in that very case may also sound familiar. It involved criticism that that white house was trying to politicize the justice department after Bush officials mysteriously ousted seven federal prosecutors. DEMs investigated and subpoenaed to get answers, and then the bush cover story started to fall apart.

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This is why Nancy Pelosi Must Be Speaker

The opposition has never sued a Republican president and won. Pelosi knows how to handle opposition presidents who try to dodge oversight and subpoenas, and you better believe that she already has a plan for taking on Trump and his administration. It is not if Trump and White House will defy subpoenas, but when.

Trump and his administration believe that they are above the law, which is why Democrats and Nancy Pelosi are preparing to repeat history and take a Republican president to court to enforce subpoenas.

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Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association