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Trump officials threatened by top Democrats with jail time if they don't apply with investigation

Representative Connolly of Maryland said 'we will go to the max to enforce the constitutional role of the legislative branch of government'

Victoria Gagliardo-Silver
New York
Saturday 27 April 2019 06:36 EDT
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Trump rants about Democratic investigations within the Mueller report

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A leading Democrat from Maryland is attempting to force members of Donald Trump’s administration to comply with congressional subpoenas by threatening officials with "potential incarceration".

This comes after the controversial Mueller report, which some view as historically damning and others view as evidence of president Trump’s claims of "no collusion".

The Mueller report deferred to Congress to make a decision and potentially take action against Mr Trump for obstruction.

President Trump told reporters his administration and officials planned to resist all subpoenas, including Carl Kline, the former White House personnel security director who was involved in obtaining security clearance for Jared Kushner, who was reported to have conflicts of interest.

Mr Kline was held in contempt of Congress after being advised not to appear by the White House. Congress plans to demand Trump officials testify.

President Trump reinforced his claim that partisanship is playing a role in Congress pursuing information on him, his administration, and his officials, saying “These aren’t like impartial people. The Democrats are trying to win 2020.”

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Gerry Connolly disputes this idea, focusing on the constitutional role of Congress. He said: “We will go to the max to enforce the constitutional role of the legislative branch of government.

“If a subpoena is issued and you are told you must testify, we will back that up and we will use any and all power in our command to make sure it’s backed up — whether it’s fines, whether it’s possible incarceration.”

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