Report: Worried GOPers Privately List Potential Probes If Dems Retake House

on June 20, 2018 in Washington, DC.
WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 20: U.S. House Majority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) (3rd L) talks to Speaker of the House Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) (R) as House Majority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) (2nd L), House Ways an... WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 20: U.S. House Majority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) (3rd L) talks to Speaker of the House Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) (R) as House Majority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) (2nd L), House Ways and Means Committee Chair Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) (4th L), and Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) (L) listen during a news conference June 20, 2018 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. House Republicans held a conference meeting to discuss immigration. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Congressional Republicans have expressed concern in recent months that they’ll lose control of either chamber of Congress to Democrats. A Sunday report by Axios sheds light on just how concerned they are.

The outlet published a list, which it said had circulated in spreadsheet form “through Republican circles on and off Capitol Hill — including at least one leadership office,” detailing the subjects on which Democrats have called for investigations since Trump’s inauguration.

With the majority in either chamber, Democrats would have the power, in the form of committee chairmanships, to pursue their investigative interests. Axios’ Jonathan Swan said he was told that the spreadsheet originated in a “senior House Republican'”s office.

Axios reported the spreadsheet catalogs “more than 100 formal requests from House Democrats this Congress.”

“Some of the probes it predicts,” Axios reported, are the following:

  • President Trump’s tax returns
  • Trump family businesses — and whether they comply with the Constitution’s emoluments clause, including the Chinese trademark grant to the Trump Organization
  • Trump’s dealings with Russia, including the president’s preparation for his meeting with Vladimir Putin
  • The payment to Stephanie Clifford — a.k.a. Stormy Daniels
  • James Comey’s firing
  • Trump’s firing of U.S. attorneys
  • Trump’s proposed transgender ban for the military
  • Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s business dealings
  • White House staff’s personal email use
  • Cabinet secretary travel, office expenses, and other misused perks
  • Discussion of classified information at Mar-a-Lago
  • Jared Kushner’s ethics law compliance
  • Dismissal of members of the EPA board of scientific counselors
  • The travel ban
  • Family separation policy
  • Hurricane response in Puerto Rico
  • Election security and hacking attempts
  • White House security clearances
Latest News

Notable Replies

  1. Avatar for j.dave j.dave says:

    They’re gonna need a bigger spreadsheet.

  2. Avatar for awould awould says:

    How about Wilbur Ross? Probably could go ahead and add that crook to the list.

  3. This list should be in Democratic campaign ads around the country as things the Republicans think are worth investigating but are stonewalling for partisan gain.

  4. Avatar for ur ur says:

    Oh, you mean like actual Congressional oversight of the Executive Branch as laid out in the Constitution?

    I can’t believe that a GOP talking point for the midterms is “if Democrats win, they will investigate and expose the president’s criminal wrongdoing.” Never mind, I can believe it.

  5. Avatar for wvng wvng says:

    Hmmm. Remarkably, this is a list of probes the GOPers would currently being conducting if they took their constitutional oversight responsibilities seriously.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

126 more replies

Participants

Avatar for richardinjax Avatar for meri Avatar for mattinpa Avatar for cervantes Avatar for maxwellsdemon Avatar for squirreltown Avatar for bob Avatar for lastroth Avatar for midnight_rambler Avatar for stradivarius50t3 Avatar for fiftygigs Avatar for pshah Avatar for tena Avatar for texastwostep Avatar for ljb860 Avatar for michaelryerson Avatar for tpr Avatar for prometheus_bic Avatar for socalista Avatar for drtv Avatar for justruss Avatar for wvng Avatar for leeblzm Avatar for captain_america

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: