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President Donald Trump holds a bilateral meeting with Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani at Bagram Air Field during a Thanksgiving day visit on November 28, 2019 in Afghanistan. (Photo: Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images)
'Getting, But Waiving, Due Process': Despite Cries of Unfairness, Trump Refuses Impeachment Hearing Invite
"If he has a defense, we on House Judiciary—along with the American people—are eager to hear it," said. Rep. Pramila Jayapal.
Dec 01, 2019
White House counsel Pat Cipollone informed the House Judiciary Committee late Sunday that President Donald Trump and his lawyers will not participate in the panel's first impeachment hearing this week, a move Democratic lawmakers highlighted as further evidence that the president's repeated complaints about lack of due process have been completely empty.
"Not one process complaint made by the president and his Republican allies in Congress so far has turned out to be genuine," tweeted Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.).
"We're bending over backward to be fair. The onus is on President Trump to, for once, behave and engage with Congress. If he has a defense, we on House Judiciary--along with the American people--are eager to hear it."
--Rep. Pramila Jayapal
In a letter (pdf) to Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Cipollone described the impeachment proceedings as unfair and said the president will not take part in the scheduled Wednesday hearing, which will feature a panel of constitutional scholars and law professors.
"Under the current circumstances, we do not intend to participate in your Wednesday hearing," Cipollone wrote to Nadler. "It is too late to cure the profound procedural deficiencies that have tainted this entire inquiry. We cannot fairly be expected to participate in a hearing while the witnesses are yet to be named and while it remains unclear whether the Judiciary Committee will afford the president a fair process through additional hearings."
Cipollone's letter comes less than a week after Nadler formally invited Trump and his attorneys to attend and participate in the December 4 hearing.
"The committee's impeachment inquiry rules allow for the president to attend the hearing and for his counsel to question the witness panel," Nadler said in a statement last Tuesday. "At base, the president has a choice to make: he can take this opportunity to be represented in the impeachment hearings, or he can stop complaining about the process."
\u201cThe essence of due process is notice and an opportunity to be heard. Trump received notice of impeachment in House Intel but refused to allow his aides to testify and a chance to be heard. Now he is refusing a hearing in House Judiciary. He is getting, but waiving, due process.\u201d— Ted Boutrous (@Ted Boutrous) 1575248393
Trump and his GOP allies in Congress have repeatedly decried the House impeachment proceedings as a "sham," even as Republicans have been allowed to participate in hearings and question witnesses both behind closed doors and in public.
In October, the president called the impeachment inquiry a "lynching," sparking widespread outrage.
"We're bending over backward to be fair," Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), a member of the House Judiciary Committee, tweeted Sunday. "The onus is on President Trump to, for once, behave and engage with Congress. If he has a defense, we on House Judiciary--along with the American people--are eager to hear it."
An Unconstitutional Rampage
Trump and Musk are on an unconstitutional rampage, aiming for virtually every corner of the federal government. These two right-wing billionaires are targeting nurses, scientists, teachers, daycare providers, judges, veterans, air traffic controllers, and nuclear safety inspectors. No one is safe. The food stamps program, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are next. It’s an unprecedented disaster and a five-alarm fire, but there will be a reckoning. The people did not vote for this. The American people do not want this dystopian hellscape that hides behind claims of “efficiency.” Still, in reality, it is all a giveaway to corporate interests and the libertarian dreams of far-right oligarchs like Musk. Common Dreams is playing a vital role by reporting day and night on this orgy of corruption and greed, as well as what everyday people can do to organize and fight back. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. |
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White House counsel Pat Cipollone informed the House Judiciary Committee late Sunday that President Donald Trump and his lawyers will not participate in the panel's first impeachment hearing this week, a move Democratic lawmakers highlighted as further evidence that the president's repeated complaints about lack of due process have been completely empty.
"Not one process complaint made by the president and his Republican allies in Congress so far has turned out to be genuine," tweeted Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.).
"We're bending over backward to be fair. The onus is on President Trump to, for once, behave and engage with Congress. If he has a defense, we on House Judiciary--along with the American people--are eager to hear it."
--Rep. Pramila Jayapal
In a letter (pdf) to Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Cipollone described the impeachment proceedings as unfair and said the president will not take part in the scheduled Wednesday hearing, which will feature a panel of constitutional scholars and law professors.
"Under the current circumstances, we do not intend to participate in your Wednesday hearing," Cipollone wrote to Nadler. "It is too late to cure the profound procedural deficiencies that have tainted this entire inquiry. We cannot fairly be expected to participate in a hearing while the witnesses are yet to be named and while it remains unclear whether the Judiciary Committee will afford the president a fair process through additional hearings."
Cipollone's letter comes less than a week after Nadler formally invited Trump and his attorneys to attend and participate in the December 4 hearing.
"The committee's impeachment inquiry rules allow for the president to attend the hearing and for his counsel to question the witness panel," Nadler said in a statement last Tuesday. "At base, the president has a choice to make: he can take this opportunity to be represented in the impeachment hearings, or he can stop complaining about the process."
\u201cThe essence of due process is notice and an opportunity to be heard. Trump received notice of impeachment in House Intel but refused to allow his aides to testify and a chance to be heard. Now he is refusing a hearing in House Judiciary. He is getting, but waiving, due process.\u201d— Ted Boutrous (@Ted Boutrous) 1575248393
Trump and his GOP allies in Congress have repeatedly decried the House impeachment proceedings as a "sham," even as Republicans have been allowed to participate in hearings and question witnesses both behind closed doors and in public.
In October, the president called the impeachment inquiry a "lynching," sparking widespread outrage.
"We're bending over backward to be fair," Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), a member of the House Judiciary Committee, tweeted Sunday. "The onus is on President Trump to, for once, behave and engage with Congress. If he has a defense, we on House Judiciary--along with the American people--are eager to hear it."
White House counsel Pat Cipollone informed the House Judiciary Committee late Sunday that President Donald Trump and his lawyers will not participate in the panel's first impeachment hearing this week, a move Democratic lawmakers highlighted as further evidence that the president's repeated complaints about lack of due process have been completely empty.
"Not one process complaint made by the president and his Republican allies in Congress so far has turned out to be genuine," tweeted Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.).
"We're bending over backward to be fair. The onus is on President Trump to, for once, behave and engage with Congress. If he has a defense, we on House Judiciary--along with the American people--are eager to hear it."
--Rep. Pramila Jayapal
In a letter (pdf) to Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Cipollone described the impeachment proceedings as unfair and said the president will not take part in the scheduled Wednesday hearing, which will feature a panel of constitutional scholars and law professors.
"Under the current circumstances, we do not intend to participate in your Wednesday hearing," Cipollone wrote to Nadler. "It is too late to cure the profound procedural deficiencies that have tainted this entire inquiry. We cannot fairly be expected to participate in a hearing while the witnesses are yet to be named and while it remains unclear whether the Judiciary Committee will afford the president a fair process through additional hearings."
Cipollone's letter comes less than a week after Nadler formally invited Trump and his attorneys to attend and participate in the December 4 hearing.
"The committee's impeachment inquiry rules allow for the president to attend the hearing and for his counsel to question the witness panel," Nadler said in a statement last Tuesday. "At base, the president has a choice to make: he can take this opportunity to be represented in the impeachment hearings, or he can stop complaining about the process."
\u201cThe essence of due process is notice and an opportunity to be heard. Trump received notice of impeachment in House Intel but refused to allow his aides to testify and a chance to be heard. Now he is refusing a hearing in House Judiciary. He is getting, but waiving, due process.\u201d— Ted Boutrous (@Ted Boutrous) 1575248393
Trump and his GOP allies in Congress have repeatedly decried the House impeachment proceedings as a "sham," even as Republicans have been allowed to participate in hearings and question witnesses both behind closed doors and in public.
In October, the president called the impeachment inquiry a "lynching," sparking widespread outrage.
"We're bending over backward to be fair," Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), a member of the House Judiciary Committee, tweeted Sunday. "The onus is on President Trump to, for once, behave and engage with Congress. If he has a defense, we on House Judiciary--along with the American people--are eager to hear it."
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LATEST NEWS
DOGE Is Reportedly Spying on Federal Workers With AI Technology
"We have been told they are looking for anti-Trump or anti-Musk language," an anonymous source said of potential surveillance at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Apr 10, 2025
Staff with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency fear that billionaire and presidential adviser Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency is spying on them using artificial intelligence, according to reporting from Reuters, The Guardian, and Crooked Media's newsletter What a Day.
According to Reuters reporting published Tuesday, Trump administration officials told some managers at the EPA that DOGE is rolling out AI to monitor for communications that may be perceived as hostile to U.S. President Donald Trump or Musk, citing two unnamed sources with knowledge of the situation.
According to those two sources, who relayed comments made by Trump-appointed officials in posts at the EPA, DOGE was using AI to monitor communication apps such as Microsoft Teams. "Be careful what you say, what you type, and what you do," an EPA manager said, according to one of the sources.
"We have been told they are looking for anti-Trump or anti-Musk language," a third source told Reuters.
The outlet, however, could not independently confirm whether AI was being implemented.
After the story was published, the EPA told Reuters in a statement that it was "looking at AI to better optimize agency functions and administrative efficiencies." However, the agency said it was not using AI "as it makes personnel decisions in concert with DOGE." The EPA also did not directly address whether it was using AI to snoop on employees.
In response to Reuters' reporting, the government accountability group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington wrote on X, "Let's be clear: the career civil servants who work in the government serve the American people, not Donald Trump."
According to Thursday reporting from The Guardian and Reuters, EPA managers told employees during a Wednesday morning meeting that DOGE is "using AI to scan through agency communications to find any anti-Musk, anti-Doge, or anti-Trump statements," according to an employee who was quoted anonymously.
Since returning to power, Trump has launched an all-out assault on environmental protection, including through cuts to programs and personnel at the EPA. According to The New York Times, the EPA has already undergone a 3% staff reduction so far, but the agency also plans to eliminate its scientific research arm, which would mean dismissing as many as 1,155 scientists, according to reporting from last month. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has also said he would like to cut 65% of the agency's budget.
The Guardian and What a Day also reviewed an email from a manager at the Association of Clean Water Administrators, a group of state and interstate bodies that works with the EPA on water quality and management, which warned workers that meetings with EPA employees might be monitored by AI.
"We recently learned that all EPA phones (landline/mobile), all Teams/Zoom virtual meetings, and calendar entries are being transcribed/monitored," the email states. The recorded information is then fed into an "AI tool" which analyzes and scrutinizes what has been recorded. "I do not know if DOGE is doing the analysis or … the agency itself," according to the author of the email, per The Guardian and What a Day.
The EPA denied that it's recording meetings, but it did not address the question of an AI tool, according to the outlets.
According to The Guardian and What a Day, employees at other agencies also fear they are being surveilled. For example, a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs official warned employees that virtual meetings are being recorded in secret, according to an email reviewed by the two outlets. In February, managers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration warned some workers to be careful about what they say on calls, per an employee there.
"It's like being in a horror film where you know something out there [wants] to kill you but you never know when or how or who it is," one anonymously quoted employee from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development told The Guardian and What a Day, evoking the climate of fear that is rife among government workers.
'They Are Laughing at Us All': Trump Tariff Whiplash Boosts Wealth of Mega-Rich by $304 Billion
"Is there any doubt in anyone's mind they were tipped off?" asked one progressive news outlet.
Apr 10, 2025
As retirees, small business owners, and consumers reeled from the chaos sparked by U.S. President Donald Trump's erratic tariff policies, the richest people on the planet saw their wealth surge Wednesday as the White House partially froze the duties it imposed on most countries.
Trump's announcement of the 90-day pause sparked a historic market rally that added $304 billion to the collective wealth of the world's top billionaires, according to a Bloomberg estimate. The outlet called the jump "the largest one-day gain in the history of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index," which was launched in 2012.
"The largest individual gainer Wednesday was Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk, who added $36 billion to his fortune as the EV manufacturer's stock jumped 23%, followed by Meta Platforms Inc.'s Mark Zuckerberg, who gained almost $26 billion," Bloomberg reported. "Nvidia Corp.'s Jensen Huang saw his wealth rise $15.5 billion as the chipmaker's shares rebounded 19%, nearly offsetting its 13% decline in the week to Tuesday's close."
Though the stock market gave up some of the massive gains on Thursday amid continued uncertainty about Trump's tariffs, the rapid billionaire wealth surge amplified concerns about possible market manipulation and insider trading ahead of the president's announcement of a 90-day pause. Trump publicly encouraged people to buy stock just hours before announcing the pause.
"Is there any doubt in anyone's mind they were tipped off?" The Tennessee Holler, a progressive news outlet, wrote on social media. "They are laughing at us all."
In the days leading up to the president's partial tariff pause, some of his billionaire supporters publicly criticized his approach as their wealth took a hit amid the trade war-induced market sell-off.
According to Bloomberg, the 500 richest people in the world saw their collective wealth fall by $208 billion the day after Trump announced the sweeping tariffs last week. The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was "flooded with worried calls from Wall Street over the weekend and felt strongly he had to persuade Trump that a pause was needed."
The partial tariff pause came a day before the Republican-controlled House passed a budget blueprint that paves the way for another round of tax cuts that would primarily benefit the wealthiest Americans.
"These tariffs are not designed to solve an actual trade or economic challenge," Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, said Thursday. "They're designed to soak typical workers with higher taxes in order to help pay for handouts to the top."
"They're focused on yet more handouts to billionaires and corporations," Wyden added, "and everybody else is going to be on the hook to pay for them."
House GOP Passes Bill That Moves Toward Making Trump a 'King With Unlimited Power'
"House Republicans want to make it harder for federal courts to serve as a check on Trump's lawlessness and overreach," said one advocate. "But that's not how our democracy works."
Apr 10, 2025
With the Trump administration's attacks on the First Amendment, birthright citizenship, and other constitutional rights in full swing, Republicans in the U.S. House on Wednesday passed a bill that one advocacy group called a "sneak attack" on another bedrock principle of U.S. democracy.
"The passage of the No Rogue Rulings Act (NORRA) is an ideological attack on the checks and balances of our Constitution," said Celina Stewart, CEO of the League of Women Voters.
The bill, which passed 219-213, with only Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) joining Democrats in opposing it, would limit U.S. District Court judges' ability to issue nationwide injunctions blocking President Donald Trump's executive orders.
The legislation was proposed by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) after federal judges blocked several actions by Trump, including his executive order aiming to end birthright citizenship, his mass expulsion of immigrants to El Salvador's prison system, his freeze on federal grants and loans, and the so-called Department of Government Efficiency's (DOGE) mass firings of federal employees.
NORRA "brings us one step closer to dismantling our democracy for the benefit of one man and his extreme agenda that is actively harming people across the country," said Maggie Jo Buchanan, interim executive director of the judicial reform group Demand Justice. "Anyone who voted in favor of this bill failed them and our country today."
"Passage of this bill by the U.S. House is an overreach on the part of the legislative branch, and we urge the U.S. Senate to reject this legislation when it comes to the floor."
Members of the judiciary including Judges James Boasberg, Paul A. Engelmayer, and John Batestes have faced calls for impeachment over their respective rulings blocking Trump from sending planeloads of immigrants to El Salvador, barring DOGE from accessing the Treasury Department's payment system, and directing federal health agencies to restore public health data to their websites after Trump ordered them to delete it.
With impeachment votes unlikely to succeed, Stewart said the legislation proposed by Issa "is a political attempt to restrain and block our federal courts from their constitutional responsibility."
"Judges appointed to the federal bench are independent bodies that review executive and legislative actions to determine their constitutionality. This is a simple process that has been in place for centuries," said Stewart.
"The League believes that all powers of the U.S. government should be exercised within the constitutional framework to protect the balance among the three branches of government," she added. "Passage of this bill by the U.S. House is an overreach on the part of the legislative branch, and we urge the U.S. Senate to reject this legislation when it comes to the floor."
Christina Harvey, executive director of the progressive advocacy group Stand Up America, suggested that in their attacks on federal judges, Republicans are trying to weaken "the first line of defense against Donald Trump's attempts to cut essential services and attack our freedoms."
"In response to legal rulings that haven't gone Trump's way, House Republicans want to make it harder for federal courts to serve as a check on Trump's lawlessness and overreach," said Harvey. "But that's not how our democracy works. Trump is a president bound by the checks and balances of our Constitution, not a king with unlimited power."
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) pointed to the landmark Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education to highlight the irrationality of Republicans' attempt to bar judges from applying their rulings to the entire nation.
"A nationwide injunction is a necessary part of the judicial tool kit," Raskin told NBC News. "Why should every person affected [by an issue] have to go to court? Why should millions of people have to create their own case? Why should Brown vs. Board of Education have applied to just Linda Brown as opposed to everybody affected?"
Harvey called on Senate leaders to "uphold their oath and block any attempt to weaken the federal courts."
"Anything less," she said, "would be walking away from their constitutional duties."
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