President Trump understands, perhaps in ways that few ever have, just how important it is to have the upper hand in any negotiation.
This is the man who wrote The Art of The Deal, after all, and whose decades wheeling and dealing within the hustle and bustle of New York City’s high stakes real estate market are the stuff of legends.
That’s why the House Democrats have to play this entire “formal impeachment inquiry” mess close to their chests; the moment they let up their guard, President Trump will be there to pounce.
On Capitol Hill this week, the Commander in Chief’s ability to stay a step ahead of the liberal left was on full display, as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi prepared a number of subpoenas and document requests for the White House. President Trump was quick to put the kibosh on that, however, using the Democrat’s own protective vagaries against them.
For the first time, the impeachment inquiry reached directly into the White House on Friday as Democrats subpoenaed officials about contacts with Ukraine and President Donald Trump signaled his administration would not cooperate.
The demand for documents capped a tumultuous week that widened the constitutional battle between the executive branch and Congress and sharpened the political standoff with more witnesses, testimony and documents to come.
Trump said he would formally object to Congress about the House impeachment inquiry, even as he acknowledged that Democrats “have the votes” to proceed. They’ll be sorry in the end, he predicted.
The President presented a fairly logical argument for his obstinance.
Fighting the inquiry, the White House was expected to send a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi arguing that Congress could not mount its impeachment investigation without first having a vote to authorize it. White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham derided the subpoena as coming from a Democratic “kangaroo court.”
This has set up quite the showdown between the White House and Congress, however, as Nancy Pelosi has vowed to regard any such denial of their requests as possible obstruction of justice.
