I believe his defense is the:
- Verbiage in the Transcript
- Zelensky saying no QPQ
Tell the class exactly wtf that has to do with obstruction of congress ----
How is he obstructing Congress? They didn’t go through proper protocols and as the Executive Branch he is their equal.
No he is not. They have the power to investigate, impeach and remove the Executive. He is not a King and his authority is not absolute. His blanket refusal to allow any and all requested testimony or documents to Congress is unprecedented and grants the Executive the absolute power to block any and all investigations into his conduct.
They needed to go to the Judicial Branch and subpoena him or his cohorts and they chose not to. Why?
Why? He refused all requests for documents and witnesses.
The Facts Behind Obama’s Executive Privilege Claim — ProPublica
Executive privilege has been invoked since the U.S.'s early days but isn't in the Constitution. It was only in 1974, when Richard Nixon tried to prevent the release of White House tapes during the Watergate investigation, that the Supreme Court
upheld its constitutionality, and set some parameters for it. The Court ruled that no claim on executive privilege is absolute, and can also be overcome if evidence is needed in a criminal trial. (For a full legal history, see
this report from the Congressional Research Service.)
CRS Executive Privilege
Bill Clinton used them a lot,
14 times during his presidency. In 1998, his attempt to keep White House aides from testifying about the Monica Lewinsky scandal was struck down, the first time since Nixon that executive privilege was
overruled in court. George W. Bush invoked the privilege
six times, not always successfully.