Democrats tried to nab Kellyanne Conway with a frivolous subpoena, but the White House adviser wasn’t having it.
In the name of their exalted “oversight power,” Democrats have taken to using subpoenas as a weapon to target anyone in the Trump administration that they don’t like, depending on the day of the week. But Conway refused to indulge the Democrats’ political theater and stunned the House and Oversight committee on Monday by refusing to come and “testify” about the contrived charges of wrongdoing against her.
“Today, Chairman Cummings and Democrats on the House Oversight Committee continued their purely political campaign to harass the President and his close advisors,” White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said.
White House says “No”
The White House asserted immunity over Conway’s testimony, saying she was not at liberty to speak about her time serving in the White House. White House counsel Pat Cipollone notified the committee’s chair, Elijah Cummings (D-MD), that Conway would not appear on Trump’s orders. Cipollone wrote that forcing White House advisers to testify would set a bad precedent and could “chill presidential advisers from providing unpopular advice or from fully examining an issue with the President or others.”
“The long-standing principle of immunity for senior advisers to the President is firmly rooted in the Constitution’s separation of powers and protects the core functions of the Presidency,” Cipollone wrote.
Now, Democrats are threatening to take the not at all predictable step of holding Conway in contempt! for refusing to play along with their nonsense. “We hope Ms. Conway will reconsider,” Cummings said. “Our goal is to hear from Ms. Conway. If she does not change course, we have no choice but to hold her accountable.”
Political theater
Republican Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), an outspoken supporter of the president, called the Democrats out on “pure politics” and an effort “to silence one of the president’s top advisers.”
Grisham blasted the Democrats for “overreach” and “politicizing” Hatch Act allegations. “Democrats continue to overreach and politicize the Office of Special Counsel – this time, by trying to silence Kellyanne Conway with ill-founded, phony allegations about the Hatch Act. The Committee clearly knows that under longstanding, bipartisan precedent founded in the Constitution, a President’s senior advisers cannot be compelled to appear before Congress,” she said.
Democrats have taken to using the contempt power as a threat against White House officials who don’t indulge their political theater. They voted to hold former White House counsel Donald McGahn in contempt after he ignored a subpoena on Trump’s orders.”
A federal department recommended that Trump fire Conway, known for her outspoken and combative demeanor, for making various political comments last month in alleged violations of the Hatch Act. But the White House stood by Conway and affirmed her First Amendment rights. Democrats issued a subpoena after Conway declined to testify on the Hatch Act voluntarily last month.
Progressive groups, high off the impeachment crack pipe, demanded that Conway step down or even get thrown in jail for defying the subpoena, according to Newsweek. Conway told Fox on Monday that she’s “concerned that there’s such a weaponization of this thing called the Hatch Act.”
“They’re not going to silence me,” Conway told Sean Hannity. “They’re not going to take away my First Amendment Rights.”
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