Full Disclosure, this is a long & detailed article. I decided to do a deep dive into “Protecting Our Democracy Act to Restore, Strengthen, & Protect Our Democracy” chug your Red Bull & try to keep up
“…the only coping mechanism I knew to turn to was, find the facts, research past certifications and then present those facts in a very agnostic manner“: this entirely rings true to everyone who puts your work at the front of the line.
I don’t doubt that your bosses have withdrawl anxiety in advance!
Long, intricate read, Mic. Imma need to ingest more caffeine and tackle this again.
Gratifying to understand that the statute of limitations will not run out on TFG’s shit - (correct me if I misread, please) - because may be certain that he will drag every tiny advance out, and will be successful in avoiding accountability if he dies of old age/dementia/heart attack on a golf course
Thank you so much! I have questions about the legal fees and penalties when someone does not submit to a Congressional subpoena. It sounds to me like i.e. current cabinet secretary would under this Act pay their own penalties but legal fees would be paid by the department? Do I understand this correctly? And what would happen with MOC (i.e. thinking of a subpoena for Kevin McCarthy) under this Act? Again, thank you so much for posting this incredible in-depth information!!
As it relates to Cabinet Sec - typically the Agency’s General Counsel and/or DOJ will act as the Attorney of Record but in circumstances when an an employee is required to obtain outside counsel than yes those cost will be the employees responsibility unless there’s a verbal contact to reimburse 👇🏻
I did a quick read of the article and had to laugh. Honestly, I don't mean to offend but really? It isn't that our ethics laws don't need to be reviewed and updated and that enforcement tools and penalties need to be enhanced. It's the "theme" that runs through the commentary. I've only recently discovered your articles and had hopes of finding some meaningful journalism. Yeoman's work so to speak. But the right is bad, left is good tone is just like the yellow journalism on CNN, Fox, Huffington Post, et al...It isn't that you aren't reporting a fair technical assessment of the proposed legislation, it is the political bias that you slather through out. You actually believe the intent of this legislation is righteous. I believe that no one should be above the law, but the truth of the matter is that those in power are in fact above the law. George W. Bush, Hilliary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, Ronald Reagan, and our current President come to mind. This law is specifically designed to shut out DJT from running again and to perpetuate the DJT hate train. I know that is cynical but it's true. I would be thrilled beyond if Congress would merely do their jobs and conduct unfettered oversight and start holding themselves accountable first rather than waste time on window dressing such as this because it suits their base. Rest assured this legislation is only as good as the party in charge and their political interests, meaning that the opposition party in charge will use it against a sitting President of the other party. Never against their own. Finally, we are not going to lose our Democracy because of corrupt politicians. We are going to lose our Democracy because the American People keep buying into the divisive rhetoric and believe that party membership, no matter what, is right. Regardless of facts, regardless of truth, party loyalty trumps country. We are about there. I
I don’t disagree on the points you made about Congress. The issue (which has intensified) is both parties have retreated to their proverbial corners. It’s DC tribalism at its worst. I’ve been here for 3 decades and increasingly the US v Them and “compromise” is a dirty word — OverSight shouldn’t be relegated to one party over another. The biggest issue (or impediment) is if there’s a 2 term limit for POTUS then why don’t we have a 2 term limit for the Senate and a 6 term limit for the House.
Irrespective of your opinions about Congressional leadership —I agree that it’s time for change. Meaning Pelosi, Schumer, McConnell and McCarthy need to go. There’s nothing right or righteous about having members of Congress serving 30+ years because it’s insane to me that when McConnell & Schumer entered the Senate - in 1984 the median family income was $26,430…
While I disagree and agree in part concerning your comments about democracy.. I think you’re undercutting the rise & far reaching impact of domestic Terrorism. Moreover we had one party’s leader actually radicalizing hundreds of thousands of Americans, I’d argue that number is likely in the millions. Which resulted in the death of 3 of Trump’s supporters and the subsequent deaths of 5 USCP and MPD (although the last 4 deaths were caused by suicide) but there’s little doubt that Jan6th was a contributing factor to the 4 officers who died by suicide. As far as my partisan tendencies, I think that’s a fair critique but if you read my growing body of work I’m not a nearly partisan as you might think…
“…the only coping mechanism I knew to turn to was, find the facts, research past certifications and then present those facts in a very agnostic manner“: this entirely rings true to everyone who puts your work at the front of the line.
I don’t doubt that your bosses have withdrawl anxiety in advance!
Long, intricate read, Mic. Imma need to ingest more caffeine and tackle this again.
Gratifying to understand that the statute of limitations will not run out on TFG’s shit - (correct me if I misread, please) - because may be certain that he will drag every tiny advance out, and will be successful in avoiding accountability if he dies of old age/dementia/heart attack on a golf course
OMG! This is comprehensive. Thank you so much for taking your valuable time to explain this to us. You are a National Treasure!
Through job. Many thanks.
Thank you so much! I have questions about the legal fees and penalties when someone does not submit to a Congressional subpoena. It sounds to me like i.e. current cabinet secretary would under this Act pay their own penalties but legal fees would be paid by the department? Do I understand this correctly? And what would happen with MOC (i.e. thinking of a subpoena for Kevin McCarthy) under this Act? Again, thank you so much for posting this incredible in-depth information!!
This 2019 CRS Report gives you a detailed assessments of what’s currently available to Congress re Subpoenas
https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R45653
Whereas the recent Act does add significant teeth to what Congress can do
https://schiff.house.gov/imo/media/doc/SCHIFF_005_xml.pdf
As it relates to Cabinet Sec - typically the Agency’s General Counsel and/or DOJ will act as the Attorney of Record but in circumstances when an an employee is required to obtain outside counsel than yes those cost will be the employees responsibility unless there’s a verbal contact to reimburse 👇🏻
https://file411.substack.com/p/former-ambassador-gordon-sondland/comments
Thank you!!
I did a quick read of the article and had to laugh. Honestly, I don't mean to offend but really? It isn't that our ethics laws don't need to be reviewed and updated and that enforcement tools and penalties need to be enhanced. It's the "theme" that runs through the commentary. I've only recently discovered your articles and had hopes of finding some meaningful journalism. Yeoman's work so to speak. But the right is bad, left is good tone is just like the yellow journalism on CNN, Fox, Huffington Post, et al...It isn't that you aren't reporting a fair technical assessment of the proposed legislation, it is the political bias that you slather through out. You actually believe the intent of this legislation is righteous. I believe that no one should be above the law, but the truth of the matter is that those in power are in fact above the law. George W. Bush, Hilliary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, Ronald Reagan, and our current President come to mind. This law is specifically designed to shut out DJT from running again and to perpetuate the DJT hate train. I know that is cynical but it's true. I would be thrilled beyond if Congress would merely do their jobs and conduct unfettered oversight and start holding themselves accountable first rather than waste time on window dressing such as this because it suits their base. Rest assured this legislation is only as good as the party in charge and their political interests, meaning that the opposition party in charge will use it against a sitting President of the other party. Never against their own. Finally, we are not going to lose our Democracy because of corrupt politicians. We are going to lose our Democracy because the American People keep buying into the divisive rhetoric and believe that party membership, no matter what, is right. Regardless of facts, regardless of truth, party loyalty trumps country. We are about there. I
I don’t disagree on the points you made about Congress. The issue (which has intensified) is both parties have retreated to their proverbial corners. It’s DC tribalism at its worst. I’ve been here for 3 decades and increasingly the US v Them and “compromise” is a dirty word — OverSight shouldn’t be relegated to one party over another. The biggest issue (or impediment) is if there’s a 2 term limit for POTUS then why don’t we have a 2 term limit for the Senate and a 6 term limit for the House.
Irrespective of your opinions about Congressional leadership —I agree that it’s time for change. Meaning Pelosi, Schumer, McConnell and McCarthy need to go. There’s nothing right or righteous about having members of Congress serving 30+ years because it’s insane to me that when McConnell & Schumer entered the Senate - in 1984 the median family income was $26,430…
https://www.census.gov/library/publications/1985/demo/p60-149.html
While I disagree and agree in part concerning your comments about democracy.. I think you’re undercutting the rise & far reaching impact of domestic Terrorism. Moreover we had one party’s leader actually radicalizing hundreds of thousands of Americans, I’d argue that number is likely in the millions. Which resulted in the death of 3 of Trump’s supporters and the subsequent deaths of 5 USCP and MPD (although the last 4 deaths were caused by suicide) but there’s little doubt that Jan6th was a contributing factor to the 4 officers who died by suicide. As far as my partisan tendencies, I think that’s a fair critique but if you read my growing body of work I’m not a nearly partisan as you might think…