The vendetta that the Democrats launched against the President of the United States following his election has grown from a distraction to an obsession that can only be described as pathological. It is no longer a faint version of what has been called “Trump Derangement Syndrome”. It is a full blown epidemic of ‘Get Trump’ Mania’. There are no rules and the players have gone from upset to hysterical.

The latest episode of GTM occurred on March 24, when House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Adam B. Schiff (D-CA), and Committee on Oversight and Reform Chairman Elijah E. Cummings (D-MD) demanded that US Attorney General William Barr break the law by releasing to the public the entire, un-redacted Mueller Report.

According to the Treacherous Trio, the report had to contain “all information gathered of a counterintelligence nature.” Their demand included the testimony behind the closed doors of the grand jury, classified information, and testimony by people who were not accused of any crime but who might suffer if their names and testimony were made public. In doing so, these Democrats lowered to dangerous levels the bar that protects Americans from out-of-control politicians.

Among other things, the law clearly requires that Grand Jury testimony may not be released to the public, and that material marked as ‘classified’ must remain secret (unless de-classified by the appropriate officials). In fact, regarding classified materials, the law “18 U.S. Code § 798 (a) Disclosure of classified information” is very clear:

“Whoever knowingly and willfully communicates, furnishes, transmits, or otherwise makes available to an unauthorized person, or publishes, or uses in any manner prejudicial to the safety or interest of the United States or for the benefit of any foreign government to the detriment of the United States any classified information . . . . Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.”

Yet the demand of the three Congressmen barely raised a ripple among the Democrats in Congress. It was just one more step towards a lawless Congress that neither respects the Constitution nor the vow they each took to uphold it.

In a letter to Congress dated March 29, Attorney-General William Barr wrote that he is in the process of redacting sensitive portions of the Mueller Report and that he will submit the redacted report to Congress sometime in mid-April. Barr said that he would redact the details from grand jury testimony, classified information, and those that related to either ongoing investigations, or would “unduly infringe on the personal privacy … of peripheral third parties”. He did not respond to the demand that the full report to Congress by April 2.

On April 1st, one day before the April 2nd deadline that he himself had imposed on Barr, Nadler said, “Attorney General Barr has thus far indicated he will not meet the April 2 deadline set by myself and five other Committee chairs, and refused to work with us to provide the full report, without redactions, to Congress.”

The original three Congressmen were joined by three Democrats, Maxine Waters, Eliot Engel, and Richard Neal, who doubled down on the initial demand, and, in addition, reiterated their request that Barr would appear to testify before the Judiciary Committee, “Not in a month, as you offered, but now, so you can explain your decisions.” They also demanded that he not “interfere” with the testimony of Robert Mueller. The arrogance of their tone was unmistakable, not to mention unacceptable.

One Democrat staffer was reported to have said, with inappropriate self-importance, “If he does not include grand jury information in the summary or report or redacted report or whatever he gives to Congress — that amounts to a cover-up.”

On April 3rd, the House Judiciary Committee authorized Nadler to issue subpoenas to get Mueller’s full report, as well as underlying evidence and other materials. But by April 5th, Nadler had decided to give Barr some more “time to change his mind”.

The Democrats want to see all the information related to the investigation, and don’t seem to be ready to accept anything less. In fact, they seem ready to go to great lengths to do whatever is necessary to satisfy their demands, unreasonable and illegal as they may be. 

The irony lies in the certainty that the Democrats had, prior to the release of the Mueller Report, that Trump would be found guilty of something serious enough to allow them to impeach him. And now that the report has come out and no culpability has been found, they have embarked on a brand new fishing expedition, to essentially begin the investigation all over – only this time, using the Mueller Report as primary material in order to try find in the weeds of his investigation what Mueller could not.

In support of this effort, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press has filed a petition with the judge overseeing that grand jury, requesting that she “enable the release of the Special Counsel’s Report to the public to the greatest extent possible.” 

The Democrats in Congress seem to be in a frenzy, something close to panic. And their forces are in disarray.

Congress’ tail, represented by brash, young freshmen from New York, Minnesota, and Michigan, is wagging the dog, led by Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, and Jerry Nadler. And instead of dealing with matters of urgent and legitimate national and international concerns, they are focused on crazy initiatives like the Green New Deal, and the resurrection of a two-year, $25 million investigation that didn’t come out the way they wanted it to.

The Democrat-led Congress is neglecting the humanitarian and national crisis on our southern border, the threats from North Korea and China and Iran, and the other issues that affect America from every point of view. Their overreaching in the matter of the Mueller Investigation is both reckless and foolish. Their apparent disregard for the constituents who so generously gave them the power they wield today is going to bite them in the end. It has already led to a backlash from Americans around the country that does not bode well for their chances at the polls when November 2020 comes around. Image: Martin Schoeller