Adam Schiff: Country ‘At Jeopardy’ Without Trump's Financial Records
House Intelligence Committee chairman says 'president not above the law'
© press
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) says the delay in obtaining President Donald Trump's financial records due to court battles, is causing America "to be at jeopardy."
During MSNBC’s “The Last Word" on Thursday, Rep. Schiff reacted to Attorney General William Barr's response ot the recent Supreme Court decision on Thursday.
“Well, obviously, we were disappointed in the decision to the extent it did not accept our argument, the government’s argument, about the extent of the president’s immunity," Barr said of the ruling.
"But as a practical matter, the decision made very clear that the president just is not at the mercy of litigants and investigators and that there are protections and defenses that can be raised.”
Schiff reacted to Barr's response:
“Well, I’m not surprised that Barr finds it a bitter pill to swallow that the president is not above the law."
© press
"He takes the legal view that essentially the president can’t violate the law because he is the law, and Bill Barr is essentially the hand of the president to implement his will," Schiff said.
"It’s why the Justice Department under Barr doesn’t represent justice. It doesn’t represent the public interest," Schiff added.
WATCH:
"It is essentially like a second defense attorney and defense counsel for the president," he continued.
"But, you know, thankfully, you know, as I mentioned, we have a, once again, an affirmation even by justices that Donald Trump appointed that, no, as 200 years of jurisprudence demonstrate, this president is not above the law. He must comply with the legal process.”
© press
Schiff added:
“You know, the difficulty is that Bill Barr and Donald Trump will do everything they can to delay. We will go back to the district court."
"We are very confident we can meet these new tests that the Supreme Court enumerated, this four-part test," Schiff said.
"And, so, we will prevail, but again if we get the records and they show, in fact, that the president is beholden, does have financial entanglements that might explain, you know, for example, this bizarre affinity for Vladimir Putin and Russia or his interest in Turkey’s Erdogan or Saudi Arabia or other financial interests that are guiding and warping U.S. policy, if we don’t get that for months until — you know, from months from now, it means the country continues to be at jeopardy during that delay.”
In Vance, the Court ruled that Trump is not above the law, and there is an increased standard for subpoenas of a sitting president.
But in Mazars, the Court ruled Democrats cannot just demand any documents it wants due to the separation of powers.
