Congressional Integrity Project continues exposing GOP’s neglect of constitutional duties to shield Trump
WASHINGTON, D.C. — This week, the Congressional Integrity Project continued exposing the truth about Republicans’ politically motivated “oversight” — a sham designed to protect Donald Trump’s failed agenda, cover up his refusal to release the Epstein files, and defend his authoritarian takeover of Washington, D.C.
As Trump deployed National Guard troops to patrol D.C. streets against the wishes of local officials — and threatened to make the military occupation permanent — House Oversight Chairman James Comer not only applauded the move but pushed to expand it to other American cities.
While Democrats fight to hold hearings to give survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse a voice, Comer and his Republican allies have wasted taxpayer time and resources on partisan attacks against civil society and nonprofits, all to distract from Trump’s growing scandals. Instead of providing real oversight, Comer threatened to drag D.C. officials before Congress to prop up Trump’s false claims about crime in the capital — even as violent crime has dropped to historic lows.
This week made clear: Republicans have abandoned their constitutional duties to serve as enablers of Trump’s increasingly authoritarian agenda.
Here are some lowlights of the Republicans’ week of choosing loyalty to Trump over accountability to the American people:
On The Republican Assault on Nonprofits
Roll Call: With Justice grants rescinded, nonprofit will shut down
A national criminal justice and racial justice nonprofit will shutter its operations for good this week, with the head of the organization saying there was no path forward after the Trump administration terminated two Justice Department grants this spring.
Equal Justice USA says it lost out on $2.4 million because of the midstream termination of two DOJ grants, part of a larger Trump administration decision to cancel a swath of department grant funding nationwide.
On Epstein
The 19th: ‘They deserve this transparency’: Rep. Ayanna Pressley calls for hearing with Epstein survivors
The House Oversight Committee is one of the most powerful bodies in the legislative branch, with the ability to carry out its own investigations of the federal government by conducting its own investigations, including but not limited a process that includes holding hearings, issuing subpoenas and reporting findings to not only Congress but the public. Historically, the committee has operated with a fair amount of bipartisanship. However, in the GOP-controlled Congress under the second Trump administration, Comer, a six-term lawmaker from Kentucky, and other Republicans are unlikely to heed any requests from their Democratic colleagues, especially about the Epstein investigation.
The so-called Epstein Files have become a divisive flashpoint among Republicans. Infighting continues on the right after President Donald Trump campaigned on a promise to publicly release the files; last month Attorney General Pam Bondi — who had announced in February that the alleged Epstein “client list” was sitting on her desk — said that no such client list existed and no further files would be released. The backlash was immediate, with many MAGA faithful and Democrats alike asking why the Trump administration, once adamant about talking about Epstein and forever invoking their prioritization of protecting women and children from sexual predators, was no longer going to release additional information about a man convicted of sex trafficking minors.
Should Comer not grant the survivors a hearing, Pressley said she’s far from done in continuing in this work.
New York Magazine: Republicans Have Created a Legal Nightmare for Themselves on Epstein
House Republicans have run for the hills, but they can’t escape the fire they started. Speaker Mike Johnson courageously adjourned the House early for summer recess to avoid a vote on a measure seeking public release of the Epstein files. But days later, the House Oversight Committee, under the leadership of Representative James Comer — who’s perpetually on the brink of uncovering some massive scandal but never quite gets there — issued a series of subpoenas calling for broad release of documents by DOJ and a series of in-person testimonial depositions.
Comer got the cheap thrill of announcing his roll call of boldface subpoena recipients: Bill and Hillary Clinton, Robert Mueller, James Comey, and Eric Holder, among others. It’s every right-wing conspiracy theorist’s fantasy realized: finally a chance to grill the standard cast of characters featured and accused in countless online fever dreams.
On Trump’s DC Takeover
The New Republic: Leading Republican Pledges Trump Will Crack Down on More Blue Cities
In an appearance on Newsmax, Republican Representative James Comer of Kentucky advanced—and endorsed—his own positive twist on that concept. Following Trump’s federal takeover of Washington, D.C., Comer said the military should be sent to Democratic-run cities to “reduce crime,” leveraging experiences from America’s numerous foreign entanglements since the 2000s.
“We’re gonna support doing this in other cities, if it works out in Washington, D.C.,” Comer said. “And, again, it’s unfortunate, but we spend a lot on our military. Our military has been in many countries around the world for the past two decades, walking the streets, trying to reduce crime in other countries. We need to focus on the big cities in America now, and that’s what the president is doing.”
MSNBC: As Republicans tout domestic troop deployments, ‘Jade Helm’ is relevant anew
In his latest appearance on Newsmax, for example, Republican Rep. James Comer of Kentucky said, “We’re going to support doing this in other cities if it works out in Washington, D.C. … We spend a lot on our military. Our military has been in many countries around the world for the past two decades, walking the streets trying to reduce crime in other countries. We need to focus on the big cities in America now.”
Despite the fact that such an approach appears to be wildly at odds with the U.S. Constitution and our system of government, the hapless GOP chairman of the House Oversight Committee apparently isn’t the only one thinking along these lines.
A day earlier, Republican Rep. Troy Downing of Montana appeared on Fox Business and insisted: “We need to send in the troops” to “liberally run cities across the country.”
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