Thread by @Monaheart1229

"Nadler was explicit in saying the House is no longer content to await the findings of the special counsel, & will delve into many of the same issues, but with a different standard of evidence not wedded to a criminal indictment.."
#MondayMotivation
nytimes.com/2019/03/04/us/…

2-"..The letters from Mr. Nadler, dated March 4, went to 81 agencies, individuals and other entities tied to the president. They included the Trump Organization, the Trump campaign, the Trump Foundation, the presidential inaugural committee, and the White House. The Justice

3-"Department, and the F.B.I., which have collected substantial evidence on Mr. Trump’s actions toward federal investigators, were also recipients. Letters also went out to dozens of the president’s closest family members and aides who counseled him as he sought to suppress

4-"the story of a pornographic film actress, Stormy Daniels, whose claim of an affair threatened his presidential campaign, and later as he launched attacks against federal investigations into him and his associates, the press, and the federal judiciary. As a part of the

5-"inquiry the committee will also investigate accusations of corruption, including possible violations of campaign finance law, the Constitution’s ban on foreign emoluments and the use of office for personal gain. In a statement, Mr. Nadler said that it was imperative to

6-"“begin building the public record” of what he has contended are Mr. Trump’s abuses. He acknowledged that his work could replicate that of Mr. Mueller, who is also studying whether Mr. Trump obstructed justice, as well as federal prosecutors in New York. But those are criminal

7-"cases, and aides to the committee noted that Congress, as it examines potential “high crimes and misdemeanors,” has a different threshold for wrongdoing. “We will act quickly to gather this information, [responses are due no later than 3/18] assess the evidence, and follow the

8-"facts where they lead with full transparency with the American people,” Mr. Nadler said. “This is a critical time for our nation, and we have a responsibility to investigate these matters and hold hearings for the public to have all the facts. That is exactly what we intend

9-"to do.” Mr. Nadler did not mention the word impeachment in any of Monday’s documents, but its specter hangs heavily over Democratic leaders as they wade deeper into the president’s circles.The House Judiciary Committee has been where impeachment proceedings begin. In an

10-"interview with The New York Times last week, Mr. Nadler said that he believed Mr. Trump had committed crimes while in office and had threatened basic constitutional norms. But he said he did not yet have the evidence to make the kind of overwhelming, bipartisan case against

11-" the president he believes he needs before pursuing a step as disruptive as impeachment. Monday’s requests could build that case. Twice in the past half century, the House Judiciary Committee has drawn up impeachment articles based, in part, on the same themes that Mr. Nadler

12-"laid out: obstruction of justice and abuse of power. There is already evidence in the public of the kind of actions the Judiciary Committee believes could cross those lines, and Mr. Mueller’s investigation could provide more, even if it does not ultimately recommend charging

13-" the president.The politics of impeachment are more fraught. The president and the White House have repeatedly rejected accusations of wrongdoing, arguing that the president is innocent of many accusations and has broad powers in his office to run the government as he chooses

14-"And there have been few cracks among Republican lawmakers, the president’s congressional firewall.Speaking to reporters at the White House as he welcomed North Dakota State University football team, Mr. Trump signaled that he would cooperate with the inquiry, and repeated

15-"that there was “no collusion” between his campaign and Russia. “It’s a political hoax. There’s no collusion. There’s no anything,” he said.Republicans in Congress assert that Democrats have already decided to target Mr. Trump for impeachment, saying repeatedly in recent weeks

16-"that despite public statements to the contrary, the new majority is determined to kick Mr. Trump out of office.“We don’t even know what the Mueller report says, but Democrats are already hedging their bets,” said Representative Doug Collins of Georgia, the Judiciary

17-"Committee’s top Republican. “After recklessly prejudging the president for obstruction, Chairman Nadler is pursuing evidence to back up his conclusion because, as he admits, ‘we don’t have the facts yet.’” Democrats also widened another front on Monday, as the chairmen of the

18-"Foreign Affairs, Intelligence and Oversight committees wrote to the White House and State Department to request detailed documentation related to Mr. Trump’s communications with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and reported efforts to conceal aspects of those

19-"communications.Committees in both the House and Senate have nibbled around the edges of several of the episodes raised by Mr. Nadler. But his investigation suggests a more coherent, deep investigation that could tie together the scheme to pay off Ms. Daniels, the firing of

20-"James B. Comey as F.B.I. director; Mr. Trump’s attempts to remove the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III; his apparent dangling of pardons and threatening of witnesses to the investigation; and other events. From Donald McGahn II, the former White House counsel, alone,

21-"Mr. Nadler requested all documents related to the resignation of Michael T. Flynn as national security adviser, interactions with and the firing of Mr. Comey, attempts to fire Mr. Mueller, communications with Mr. Trump about Jeff Sessions, the president’s first attorney

22-"general, and about ongoing investigations into his presidency, among more than a dozen other topics. Mr. Nadler requested documents from Annie Donaldson, Mr. McGahn’s deputy who took exhaustive notes detailing Mr. Trump’s behavior in the West Wing in real time.

23-"Other targets include David J. Pecker, chairman of American Media Inc., which publishes the National Enquirer and played a key role in suppressing Ms. Daniels’ story; Allen Weisselberg, the chief financial officer of the Trump Organization; Alan Garten, its lawyer; Mr.

24-"Sessions; and Thomas J. Barrack Jr., a close associate of Mr. Trump who led his inaugural committee.Michael D. Cohen, the president’s former lawyer and longtime fixer who testified publicly last week before another House committee about the illegal hush money scheme, was sent

25-"three pages of requests. Mr. Nadler also asked for information from Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, and his two adult sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump. The committee said that additional requests for documents would follow in the coming weeks.

26-"A counsel to the Judiciary Committee said on Monday that response to the letters would determine who and when the committee calls to testify. Recipients of the letters were given two weeks to reply voluntarily.Lawyers for Mr. Nadler are prepared for protracted negotiations

27-"and fights over certain requests. If the recipients of the requests do not voluntarily comply, Mr. Nadler will likely issue subpoenas to compel them. But even if he does, there are practical limitations that could significantly slow his efforts if a witness were to challenge

28-"the subpoena in court.The most significant hurdle could come from Mr. Trump himself. The White House could choose to assert executive privilege to try to protect many of the materials central to the committee’s inquiry, including communications between Mr. Trump, Mr. McGahn

29-"and other advisers. Any such claim would almost certainly lead to a lengthy court fight that could delay the inquiry. In a sign of how taxing the inquiry may become,

30-"Mr. Nadler has hired two elite white-collar litigators, Norman L. Eisen and Barry H. Berke, to oversee the inquiry with his staff."
~NYT, 3/4/19