Fines, jail time? Dems dig in as Trump resists oversight

WASHINGTON (AP):

They’re talking about jailing people at the Capitol. Imposing steep fines. All sorts of extraordinary, if long-shot measures to force the White House to comply with Democratic lawmakers’ request for information about President Donald Trump stemming from the special counsel’s Russia investigation.

This is the remarkable state of affairs between the executive and legislative branches, unseen in recent times, as Democrats try to break through Trump’s blockade of investigations and exert congressional oversight of the administration.

“One of the things that everybody in this country needs to think about is when the president denies the Congress documents and access to key witnesses, basically what they’re doing is saying, Congress, you don’t count,” said Representative Elijah Cummings, chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee.

“We cannot – we simply cannot – have a presidency that is run as if it were a king or a dictator in charge,” said Cummings.

Trump’s blanket refusal to engage in oversight – and Democrats’ unrelenting demand that he do so – is testing the system of checks and balances with a deepening standoff in the aftermath of Robert Mueller’s investigation.

Trump derides the oversight of his business dealings and his administration as “presidential harassment” and has the backing of most Republicans in Congress. With Mueller’s work completed, Trump wants closure to what he has long complained was a “witch hunt”.

“No more costly & time consuming investigations,” Trump tweeted.