"It would be no exaggeration to say that our countries have approached this anniversary with relations the best they have been in their entire history. This is the result of meticulous and successful work over the past thirty years."Here's the transcript of Xi's keynote speech at the forum. And here's Putin's.
It's a prerogative of the executive branch and President Donald Trump to ignore congressional subpoenas, as it is the only branch that has prosecutorial power, Sen. Mike Lee said Wednesday.While newly appointed Judge Kavanaugh said otherwise:
"This has been litigated figuratively and literally over the course of many decades, with Republican and Democratic administrations, against Republican and Democratic congresses," the Utah Republican told MSNBC's "Morning Joe." "Only the executive branch has a prosecutorial power, and as part of that, to have an attorney general or Justice Department willing to bring an action to support a subpoena."
Brett Kavanaugh, President Donald Trump's second Supreme Court pick, told senators Thursday a sitting president must comply with a judge's orders.In any case, it seems that Trump has dug in:
Democratic senators have peppered him for hours this week with questions related to what they see as Trump's desire to ignore any coming subpoenas or court orders. Both could come as the result of Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller's Russia election meddling probe or criminal cases in federal or state court.
Senate Minority Whip Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill., was the latest to do so Thursday.
But Kavanaugh disputed Durbin's notion that he has said a sitting president has the "final word" on whether to comply to a judge's orders. Rather, the nominee told him if a court order is aimed at a chief executive, that direction "is the final word."
"We're fighting all the subpoenas," Mr. Trump told reporters outside the White House. "These aren't, like, impartial people. The Democrats are trying to win 2020."
[...]
Mr. Trump's flurry of moves this week to block multiple congressional investigations signaled a new phase of constitutional friction that could redefine long-murky boundaries of Congress's power to conduct oversight of the executive branch - and the power of presidents to keep government affairs secret from lawmakers.
Speaking with reporters on Wednesday, Mr. Trump cited the end of the special counsel investigation to declare he had been investigated enough. "I thought after two years we'd be finished with it," he said. "No. Now the House goes and starts subpoenas." He added, "I say it's enough."
[...]
And on Twitter, Mr. Trump offered a novel idea for pushing back against any impeachment proceedings if House Democrats tried to move forward with them: He would get the Supreme Court to order them to stop.
"If the partisan Dems ever tried to Impeach, I would first head to the U.S. Supreme Court," Mr. Trump wrote over two posts. "Not only are there no 'High Crimes and Misdemeanors,' there are no Crimes by me at all."
Comment: Silly of this volunteer to assume efforts to save property was more important than Trudeau's virtue signalling. Nothing stands in the way of the Prime Minister's photo op!
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