Trump Aides Fear Coming ‘Subpoena Blizzard’ From House Committees

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Last updated on February 4th, 2019 at 01:46 pm

After Donald Trump delivers his State of the Union address on Tuesday aides to the president expect to be inundated with a constant stream of subpoenas from House committees led by Democrats.

According to a report in the Washington Post, a Trump ally said the White House is bracing for “a subpoena blizzard.”

The report states that House Democrats are set to “launch their promised oversight investigations, which are expected to probe the president’s conduct and personal finances as well as alleged corruption in the administration.”

The report goes on to say, “White House counsel Pat Cipollone and deputy counsel Michael Purpura have met with leaders of individual agencies to provide instructions about responding to oversight requests and examining their staffs.”

The White House attorneys have also been developing a game plan on how to handle the flood of inquiries and subpoenas, and White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney has reportedly been meeting with agency chiefs of staff to help them prepare.

At the same time, many of Trump’s top political positions in his administration are unfilled or staffed by “acting” officials, which the Post reports, “could prove especially problematic once the Democrat-led investigations begin.”

“Regardless of storm clouds, you have to have a team fully deployed in the field, not just inside the White House, but inside the departments and agencies,’’ Chase Untermeyer, who served as director of presidential personnel under former president George H.W. Bush explained.

Trump is at a difficult time in his presidency. His poll numbers are dropping to new historical lows, and he has just suffered a major defeat over the government shutdown. Not only will his administration be dealing with subpoenas from House Democrats, but he also has the dark cloud of the Mueller probe hanging over his head.

On top of that, he is facing the embarrassment of revelations found in two new “tell all” books from former White House employee Cliff Sims and former aide Chris Christie. And he is angry about the news coverage of his intelligence leaders and their testimony before Congress, where they reportedly contradicted him on such national security issues as North Korea, Iran and the status of the Islamic State.

Most people expect Trump to try to sound upbeat and conciliatory in his State of the Union speech on Tuesday. He may use it as an opportunity to try to improve his image and reverse his decline in the polls.

Nobody knows for sure what Trump will say Tuesday night, but one thing we do know for sure is that starting on Wednesday morning he and his administration will be facing the subpoena blizzard which has them terrified.

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Leo Vidal

I am a lifelong Democrat with a passion for social justice and progressive issues. I have degrees in writing, economics and law from the University of Iowa.