During a Republican conference meeting Tuesday morning, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) tried to quell concerns within the conference that his staff had assisted President Donald Trump’s administration with drafting an executive order on immigration that even Republican leaders did not know was coming.
Members and staff in the meeting said afterward that Goodlatte walked through the process and explained that he had had staff who served on the transition team when Trump became the nominee.
On Tuesday afternoon, the House Judiciary Committee released a statement praising the work of the staffers.
“My staff on the House Judiciary Committee are some of the best on Capitol Hill. They are experts in their respective fields and I proudly allowed them to provide their expertise to the Trump transition team on immigration law,” Goodlatte said. “To be clear, while they gave advice to the new Administration, they did not have decision making authority on the policy. The final decision was made at the highest levels of the Trump Administration, and I support the President’s executive order.”
Goodlatte’s knowledge that his staff was involved opens up questions of whether the Chairman himself was aware of what was coming even as Republican leaders were in the dark. During his press conference, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) tried to downplay what occurred.
“Congressional staffers help the administration all the time. I’ll refer you to the Judiciary Committee on the specific aspects of this,” House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) said.
Goodlatte characterized it as his staff being “on loan” in the Tuesday morning meetings.
There are still major questions looming about Goodlatte’s staff’s involvement in the executive order. For example, did Goodlatte’s staff sign nondisclosure agreements to work with Trump’s transition, which would have barred staffers from discussing their work with their boss or congressional leadership, as has been reported.
The Apprentice Precedent might scream “You’re Fired” —
I’m assuming the conversation went something like this–
TRUMP: Can I borrow some of your guys to write my Muslim ban?
GOODLATTE: Sure, as long as the buck gets nowhere near me. Can you make them promise not to tell me about it?
TRUMP: Done.
If they were on loan and it was all copacetic, then why the NDAs?
I call shenanigans. Nice try.
Combine this story with Josh’s piece on what happened and it’s clear that Goodblatte rolled over. Or more likely, they have pictures.
I still see the fingers of Steve Bannon all over this, and suspect we are watching an effort to conduct a coup in which the office of the President takes complete control of the federal government. The separation of powers is a real obstacle to Bannon.
Goodlatte probably got caught with his pants down on this and is doing his best to prove that he is still relevant - and he is failing.