Trump is sabotaging the power of the people in this building

What we witnessed this week, when MAGA acolyte Corey Lewandowski stonewalled Congress with a fake claim of “executive privilege,” was Donald Trump’s latest quest to sabotage a co-equal branch of government that’s constitutionally tasked with holding a president accountable. The systematic evisceration of our democratic institutions is happening in plain sight – not that most Americans necessarily care, because, hey, the jobless rate is low – and the Lewandowski episode isn’t even the most egregious example. Something else is going on right now that’s potentially far worse. Yes, it’s true, as conservative commentator Quin Hillyer readily acknowledges, that Trump “makes a mockery of the separation of powers” when he claims that Lewandowski is covered by executive privilege and can thus refuse to cooperate with Congress’ oversight committees. And yes, it’s true that Trump’s claim is a crock, because – according to federal court rulings – the privilege of eluding congressional scrutiny “does not extend beyond close presidential advisers,” and that, moreover, “the privilege should not extend to staff outside the White House.” Lewandowski, an ex-campaign manager who was fired in June 2016, has never worked in the White House. The 2018 blue wave midterm election propelled the Democrats to power in the House, but Trump’s impulse (or calculation, or both) is to defy the will of the people and breach the Constitution that he swore to uphold. And if his stonewalling of the House Judiciary Committee strikes you as serious – a blatant obstruction of justice – then brace yourselves. Because it may soon be trumped by a high-stakes standoff with the House oversight panel that tracks his rocky relationship with the U.S. intelligence community. In case you have missed this burgeoning development: On Aug. 12, an intelligence officer filed a whistleblower complaint against Trump. It was filed with Michael Atkinson, the intelligence community’s inspector general, as required by law. The intelligence officer reportedly wants to sound the alarm about a “promise” that Trump recently made to a foreign leader. We don’t know the nature of the promise or the identity of the foreign leader, but Atkinson (the community’s internal watchdog) has judged the complaint to be an “urgent concern.” And under federal law, an “urgent concern” needs to be speedily shared with congressional overseers – most notably, Adam Schiff’s House Intelligence Committee. But – and I know this is a shock – Schiff is being stonewalled. Under federal law, Atkinson is first required to notify his boss, the director of National Intelligence. The director used to be Dan Coats, but he recently quit because Trump deemed him too independent. The new director (excuse me, acting director) is Joseph Maguire, who Trump deems more pliable. receptive to Trump. Maguire saw the “urgent concern” complaint on Aug. 26, and he was required by federal law to share it with Schiff no later than Sept. 2. Two and half weeks later, he still refuses to share it – claiming that he has been instructed to refuse by an unnamed higher authority. This is how democracy and accountability die – not with a bang, but backstage, drip by drip. Federal law, 50 U.S.C. 3033, could not be clearer. When the inspector general decides that an intelligence community whistleblower’s complaint is of “urgent concern” – defined as, but limited to, “a serious or flagrant problem, abuse, violation of law or Executive order” – it’s then shared with the national intelligence director. And then, “the Director shall, within 7 calendar days of such receipt, forward such transmittal to the congressional intelligence committees.” Shall forward it to Congress. Not can, or may. But fealty to plain English is yet another casualty of Trump’s war on checks and balances. (And this isn’t the first time. Earlier this year, the House Ways and Means Committee requested six years of Trump’s tax returns, in accordance with Section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code, which says that if such a congressional request is made, tax returns “shall” be shared. But in Trumplandia, the dictionary definition of “shall” is so over.) So let’s look at the big picture. As one analyst at the invaluable Lawfare blog rightly points out, “In context, this incident looks even worse. In March, two senior administration officials told the Washington Post that the White House is ‘intent on challenging most, if not all, House Democrats’ document requests.’ President Trump said in April that he intends to fight ‘all the subpoenas’ issued by the House. The administration has refused to provide Trump’s tax returns… even in the face of a statutory requirement. And the president is aggressively litigating to protect his financial documents from being provided to Congress by various banks and his former accounting firm.” Congress is pushing back on various fronts – indeed, Schiff seeks to subpoena the whistleblower’s complaint – but this is an asymmetric fight. It’ll get bogged down in the courts, and Trump can likely run out the clock until he’s on the ballot again. Then it’s up to the voters, and we have to ask ourselves whether most will care about his epic assaults on the Founders’ handiwork. After all, everyday life seems unaffected, there are TV shows to binge, and how ’bout that football game! If Trump is right about the allure of bread and circuses, we’ll have only ourselves to blame.