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McCarthy May HAVE to Call for an Inquiry Vote [1]

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Date: 2023-09-12  

So Squeaker McCarthy has called for formal impeachment inquiry into Biden amid pressure from conservatives. And he did it without getting a vote in the House to open the inquiry.

According to a GOP source, McCarthy’s announcement that he’s “directing committees” to open a formal inquiry means there will be no floor vote to formally authorize the effort – marking a reversal for the House speaker from comments he previously made. McCarthy had been weighing skipping an impeachment inquiry vote – and received criticism from Democrats for being hypocritical, since he once criticized Democrats for contemplating the same – McCarthy then gave a statement to Breitbart vowing to hold a floor vote if they go that route.

Now, McCarthy probably made this move — which of course is just what he blasted Speaker Pelosi for doing in 2019 — because GOP centrists are relieved McCarthy won't make them vote on impeachment inquiry.

“I think it is better if he is doing this than making everyone take a vote on this. I am not sure a vote would have passed," said one centrist Republican, who was granted anonymity to speak freely. This centrist said that flagging GOP support for an inquiry vote was communicated to McCarthy — underscoring that some Republicans are leery that the party's investigations have so far not yielded a direct link between the president and his son Hunter’s business dealings.

Now, Pelosi did eventually get a formal vote to open the inquiry, on Oct. 31, 2019. But that’s not the end of the story. Politico just dug up a slip opinion (PDF) from the DOJ — Trump’s DOJ — on Jan. 19, 2020, that says:

The House of Representatives must expressly authorize a committee to conduct an impeachment investigation and to use compulsory process in that investigation before the committee may compel the production of documents or testimony in support of the House’s power of impeachment.

The slip opinion thus invalidated all subpoenas issued by the House committee prior to the resolution of Oct. 31, 2019. And according to Politico, that opinion is still binding:

That opinion — issued by the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel — came in response to then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s decision to launch an impeachment inquiry into Trump without initially holding a vote for it. Not only is it still on the books, it is binding on the current administration as it responds to Tuesday’s announcement by Speaker Kevin McCarthy to authorize an impeachment inquiry into Biden, again without a vote.

In his rush to satisfy one set of his caucus crazies, while at the same time not putting the less-crazies in a bind for an impeachment inquiry vote, the Squeaker just made things worse. As noted in Politico,

Biden, as the president, would have more flexibility about whether to heed the OLC opinion [than the DOJ, FBI, and IRS]. But he could simply choose to follow Trump’s precedent. He also may have grounds to assert executive privilege that could similarly tie up GOP investigators — claims Trump also lodged to jam his own inquiry.

Until McCarthy commits his caucus to a vote, then, the Biden Administration can simply ignore any subpoenas from Comer et. al. on the grounds that they have no authority to issue them — the same argument Trump made. (Trump’s lawyers revealed the slip opinion during the impeachment trial.)

Hypocrisy, thy name is Republican, so they will have no qualms in screaming that what was legal for Trump is not legal for Biden because . . . reasons. Not even a Trump judge is going to buy that one. (Well, maybe Aileen Cannon, but no way does she get this case.)

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/9/12/2192978/-McCarthy-May-HAVE-to-Call-for-an-Inquiry-Vote

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