Things got rather testy between Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), chair of the House Financial Services Committee, and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin. Mnuchin was trying to leave to meet with an official for Bahrain and the time was getting rather tight. The hearing was soaring past 5 P.M. and Mnuchin asked for the hearing to be adjourned. Waters, an unabashed anti-Trump House Democrat, refused and it boiled down to the California Democrat telling Mnuchin not to tell her how to run her committee. The treasury secretary had already given a lengthy testimony (via The Hill):
After Waters told Mnuchin that he was free to leave, Mnuchin asked her to dismiss the hearing, saying that she was supposed to "take the gavel and bang it.”
“Please do not instruct me as to how I am to conduct this committee," Waters responded.
[…]
Earlier in the exchange, Mnuchin offered to cancel his meeting to stay at the hearing, but said he would "not be back here" if he did that.
“If you’d wish to keep me here so I don’t have my important meeting and continue to grill me, then we can do that. I will cancel my meeting and I will not be back here. I will be very clear," he said.
"The secretary has agreed to stay to hear all of the rest of the members," Waters responded. "Please cancel your meeting and respect our time.”
Mnuchin asks to be dismissed. Waters says no. pic.twitter.com/rYkuBl3HXO
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) April 9, 2019
When Mnuchin said that Republicans had never treated a treasury secretary in this manner, Water simply said that it’s a “new day” and she’s in charge. This was an ‘as expected’ moment from Waters, who has taken impeaching Trump to lengths that are fruitier than Fruit Loops. Impeach 45 has been her war cry for the past couple of years. From unfounded allegations that Trump colluded with the Russians to accusing former House members without evidence of having ties to Russia, raging Waters Theater has sure been popcorn worthy. She’s been sent by God to impeach Trump. She’s accused HUD Secretary Ben Carson of being a white nationalist. I mean the crazy is also here and here.
Waters, like other Democrats, are just throwing anything up against the impeachment wall and hope something sticks. They’re still peddling the Russian collusion myth, thinking Attorney General William Barr is some evil minion. He’s not. He just gave a summary of what the Mueller report said. What’s going to be immensely satisfying is watching the Democrats eat crap again over this Russian collusion nonsense. In the meantime, they’ve opened another front in the assault on the Trump White House: the president taxes. They want six years worth of IRS tax returns, plus those related to his businesses. It’s madness. And yes, Mnuchin was asked about those as well during his trip to the Hill (via NYT):
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told lawmakers on Tuesday that White House lawyers had been in touch with his department about a congressional request for President Trump’s tax returns but said he had not personally spoken to Mr. Trump or those lawyers about how the matter was being handled.
Mr. Mnuchin’s disclosure is the first public acknowledgment of communication between the White House and the Treasury Department related to Mr. Trump’s tax returns. It comes as the president has made clear he has no intention of handing over his personal financial records without a fight.
Mr. Mnuchin, in testimony on Tuesday before two congressional committees, acknowledged that White House lawyers had been in touch with his department before the formal request was made last week. But he said that he had not been briefed on those discussions and described them as “informational.”
“Our legal department has had conversations prior to receiving the letter with the White House general counsel,” Mr. Mnuchin said. “I acknowledge there were conversations. I am not briefed on the full extent of those conversations.”
Some states have even passed legislation barring candidates from appearing on the 2020 ballot if they had not released their returns. It’s all part of tis sour grapes theater Democrats continue to put on after their 2016 loss. But this is what House Democrats were elected to do: execute war on this administration. And they’re not going to let up. The next election is going to be vicious…and I cannot wait.
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