Last updated on February 25th, 2019 at 03:39 pm
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) is not a person to trifle with. He has already taken steps to hold Donald Trump and his administration accountable since taking charge of his committee on January 3. And there is no reason to think that in the coming months he will let up and go easy on the president or any of his appointees.
In a radio interview on Sunday, Nadler made very clear where he stands on the current occupant of the White House when he called Trump the “greatest threat” to U.S. democracy since “the Civil War.”
Speaking with radio host John Catsimatidis on AM 970 in New York Nadler said:
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“I view this president and his conduct as the greatest threat to the democratic system and to the constitutional government since the Civil War.”
“Whether it’s threatening the newspapers or threatening the judiciary or calling people who criticize him treasonous.”
Nadler is one of the key Democratic committee chairmen who will soon begin to investigate many different aspects of the Trump administration.
This morning he said that the his committee will soon be holding hearings into “abuse of power” and “obstruction of justice.”
“Clearly…there have been major abuses of power, major obstruction of justice, obvious violations of the emoluments clause of the Constitution,” Nadler said. “All of these have to be looked at.”
He also make clear that his hearings would look at all actions, including those conducted in a “noncriminal manner,” to determine of governmental norms have been violated. He said he will investigate whether Trump administration policies have threatened the U.S. democratic system.
Nadler also said that Democrats in the House will introduce legislation which requires that special counsel Robert Mueller‘s final report be made public.
As chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Nadler will be in charge of an impeachment investigation if Democrats pursue that course of action.
In public comments last week Nadler stated that if Attorney General William Barr tries to stop Congress from using Mueller’s work for its own probes, he will have a major fight on his hands. He also said that he will not hesitate to subpoena the Mueller report if necessary.
Nadler also plans to continue to investigate former acting attorney general Matthew Whitaker for possible perjury committed during his sworn testimony before Nadler’s committee. During his testimony Whitaker was nonresponsive, rude and evasive in all of the questions posed to him by Nadler.
I am a lifelong Democrat with a passion for social justice and progressive issues. I have degrees in writing, economics and law from the University of Iowa.
