Thread by @JuddLegum

1. The inherent weakness of the Congressional Democrats strategy on Trump is playing out in real time.

They won't pursue impeachment so instead, they are "continuing to investigate."

But all the investigations require the administration to cooperate.

2. The Trump administration, predictably, has said they won't cooperate. Not they'll only cooperate a little bit. But they will not testify, comply with subpoenas, turn over documents, or anything else.

So the "investigation" has ground to a halt

3. A lot of these disputes have been kicked to the courts which will be very hesitant to intervene in a dispute between the legislative and executive branches and, in any event, work way too slowly

4. The end result is we've stopped talking about Trump's crimes and now are discussing an infrastructure bill, Jared Kushner's immigration plan, and war with Iran.

5. Barr, no longer on the defensive, is now turning the tables, accusing Democrats and the Justice Department of misconduct on Fox News.

So we are still talking about the investigation, just on Trump's terms.

6. This is supposedly the most effective political strategy for 2020 although the people who claim that never really explain why.

Supposedly impeachment will motivate Trump's base, which is already motivated and unified.

Yep: "An increasing number of House Democrats are frustrated by their stalled investigations into President Trump, with an uncooperative chief executive, their own leader’s reluctance about impeachment and courts that could be slow to resolve the standoff" washingtonpost.com/politics/no-mu…