Mcgahn Ruling News Today

Pelosis mind. mcgahn is a stalking horse for mick mulvaney and don mcgahn has no excuse thought to go in. if he gets enough of his book written, which hes trying to do, hes ready to testify. he wants to promote that book and be a star again in the country. but the mcgahn ruling, i think, would give him that opening and my guess is mick mulvaney, who know nows hell be fired, the same. so again the -- i dont think were going to see a second impeachment on obstruction, whether we should or shouldnt...

As too much evidence. and so i understand the political imperative. i understand why democrats feel they need to move quickly. i would just prefer to know everything.to and if i cant know everything,i i would prefer to know as much as i could possibly know. and if that means tapping on the brakes slightly, that makes sense.on and oh, by the way, chris, i dont really care if a witness has an "r" or a "d" after their name. if theyre telling the truth id like to hear it. >> and this goes back to ar...

Compulsory congressional proce process, no matter how many times the executive branch has asserted as much over the years, even if the president expressly directs such officials noncompliance. she said essentially over 250 years of recorded american history, weve established that presidents are not kings. so what was remarkable about this ruling, she not only answered the question about whether don mcgahn should show up to respond to this subpoena from the house but also other national security ...

Liberties, although im sad to say of course what youre going to see is trump and his supporters are then going to trash the judge just like they trash anybody else who tries to impose any kind of limitations on what this president can do. >> so will this ruling speak to someone like a john bolton, max? >> well, i dont know that its going to speak to him directly. again, i think to the point that we were just discussing, i think, you know, ultimately if somebody like john bolton wants to avoid te...

Able to testify and did testify. did this new ruling now give some cover to those who said, look, i have to. my rock and my hard place has gone away. the judge says we got to do it and mcgahn is a good litmus test for us. >> id like to say yes but i have to say no because this ruling was already issued in 2008 by judge john bates who i worked with in ken starrs whitewater independent counsel. and judge bates said in 2008, listen, there is no such thing as immunity for people who work for the pre...

So this will be appealed. maybe it will give cover, but i think its really more of a political than a legal question. legally these subpoenas should be complied with. >> lets here from the ruling. she says with respect to senior-level presidential aides, absolute immunity from compelled congressional process simply does not exist. indeed, absolute testimonile immunity for senior level white house aides appears to be a fiction, in other words, kind of a spin on the fake news, fake law at this poi...

Scant legal authority for the idea the president can say, you know what? the appropriations clause doesnt bind me. so i think thats really important. number two is that was on a preliminary injunction. the court issued a preliminary injunction, said you have to turn over these records. so the trump administration is losing in the courts. the courts understand there is no king. the courts understand theres a separation of powers. the courts are standing for the rule of law, and i frankly dont thi...

We expect its going to go to the appeals court over the next few months and then possibly to the supreme court. keep in mind one of the more interesting thing has been mick mulvaney. one of the things he said or his earlier legal team said was they were going to abide or look at the mcgahn ruling as sort of their guidepost. im not sure if they believe that anymore, but certainly what weve heard from all of these officials lawyers is theyre reviewing the ruling. theyre going to see what else the ...

Much. >> you bet. >> we have our own lawyers on hand to dig through this. cnn chief legal analyst jeffrey toobin. jennifer rodgers, also a man who had don mcgahns job in the mix nixon administration, john deans joins. joe jackson writes with respect to senior level congressional aides, absolute immunity from compel the congressional process simply does not exist. as the kids would say, absolute immunity is not a thing. how stark of a ruling is this? >> its really -- it was such an extraordinary ...

Officials to now refuse to answer questions claiming executive privilege. so the question is going to be what will all this mean for the other white house witnesses who have been stonewalling thus far? weve got a lot more to come on that. and another big ruling today. the supreme court handing the president a win, ruling that the house will not get his financial records -- well, not right now anyway. the court granting an emergency request to block the house subpoena while it considers whether t...